The apartment on Gräfstraße was built in 1972 as part of a residential structure typical of that time. Within 70.00 m², a compact three-room layout reflects the spatial logic and living patterns of its era. For a young family, this structure was carefully adapted and reinterpreted in relation to contemporary everyday routines.

 

The renovation began by revealing the existing layers. Inspired by the idea of stratigraphy—known from archaeology and building research—the apartment was first read as an accumulation of traces: walls, doors, built-in furniture and materials as indicators of different phases of use. Based on this understanding, the project follows a strategy of small interventions. Certain elements were removed, others added or reinterpreted. Through this careful process of subtraction and addition, a new spatial order emerges—one that allows for greater openness and flexibility while continuing to work with the existing structure. At the heart of the apartment lies a new kitchen. The former kitchen was opened up and integrated into a continuous living space that connects arrival, cooking, living and the balcony. The new kitchen consists of two elements: a newly built kitchen unit and Werkbank, the kitchen designed by Otl Aicher. By combining a contemporary element with this existing piece, the kitchen becomes both a working space and a central place of everyday life.

 

Most interventions remain minimal. Yet they fundamentally transform the apartment: from a standardized layout of the 1970s into a new home that does not conceal the existing layers, but continues their story.