A Frankfurt Apartment Gets a Midcentury Makeover with Jil Sander-Inspired Corkscrew Stairs

"Now, Volhard is a partner in an international commercial law firm and commutes between Frankfurt, Paris, and London. But he also studied architecture at the ETH Zurich and 25 years ago, he founded , an online magazine and platform for architecture and design products. It proved to be an invaluable resource at a time when most people in Germany were still leafing through thick catalogs in architecture offices when it came time to source products."

"The couple took this as a sign to go bigger than a typical patch-up-and opted instead for a bold architectural reimagining of their home. "In our old age, we wanted to give ourselves a roof garden in the middle of the city," the Volhards tell AD. This required a migration upward into the attic of their building, which presented just one problem: the idea of living in a mansard apartment, which means all-around sloped ceilings, had no appeal to them."

""He told me about his plans," says Begon. "He had a design in mind, but the building regulations seemed insurmountable." Fortunately, Begon's office, B.A.S. Architekten, not only knew how to renovate historic buildings, but also how to satisfy the aspirations of today's city dwellers. "In the 19th century, buildings tended to have a certain character where the relationship between public and private was clearly defined," says Begon. "Today, many people want instead a sense of openness and light.""

Robert and his wife Patricia have lived in a property first purchased by his parents in the 1970s. Volhard works as a partner in an international commercial law firm and commutes between Frankfurt, Paris and London. He studied architecture at ETH Zurich and founded an online architecture and design platform 25 years ago, which became a key sourcing resource. When their children left for boarding school, the roof required urgent replacement and the couple chose a full architectural reimagining. They wanted a rooftop garden and moved into the attic but rejected traditional mansard slopes. Architect Peter Begon and B.A.S. Architekten reconfigured the mansard into vertical walls, prioritizing city views, openness and light while navigating building regulations to renovate the historic building.

Read at Architectural Digest