It was the aim of this attic conversion to break with long-standing building traditions found in contractor-built houses in the Innviertel region in rural Upper Austria. Built in the early 1990s, the classic two-storey building contains approximately 100m2 of living area per floor. Prior to the renovation, the unfinished attic had been conceived to replicate the layout of the ground floor below: with an entrance located at the center of the building, this would have resulted in five equally sized rooms connected by a dark central corridor, along with four windows - two facing north, two facing south - and a uniform ceiling height of 2.40 m throughout.

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In contrast, the realized design responds to the building’s surroundings. The house is situated on an undeveloped west-facing slope with expansive views across the landscape, while residential developments adjoin the property to both the north and south. By opening up the western and eastern roof surfaces, the project not only frames the valuable views across the rolling Alpine foothills, but also allows natural daylight to enter the living spaces throughout the course of the day. The new layout furthermore abandons the dark central corridor in favor of an open-plan kitchen and living area with an adjoining balcony. At the same time, the deliberate opening of the roof space upwards creates a generous, well-lit communal area which, in combination with the lower and more intimate private rooms, forms a living landscape characterized by varying ceiling heights, lighting conditions, and spatial proportions.