Photo: Roth-Massivhaus / Gerhard Zwickert
The house that Beate and Jurgen Seiffert had in mind when they visited an open house in Berlin had to be something special. No typical pointed gable roof and not the usual either.
For the young family, who lived in a rented apartment in Berlin-Moabit, one thing had been clear since the birth of their first of two daughters: When they started school, at the latest, they would leave the city and return to the small community in the Berlin countryside from which Beate Seiffert comes. Parents and siblings live there, the infrastructure and transport links are right, and a plot of land that appealed and fitted the budget was found surprisingly quickly.
The 30-something couple knew exactly what they didn't want when they started looking around – for the right architectural style and a building partner to make their dream home a reality. "I fell in love right away," Beate recalls of her visit to the Roth-Massivhaus booth when her eyes fell on the large motif showing a modern house with a flat pitched gable roof and an unusual facade with partially horizontal windows.
Enrico Roth, managing director of Roth-Massivhaus, is pleased with the popularity of the design: "Young families in particular are delighted with the no-frills, functional design. Our house Hamburg has stylish chic, while offering plenty of space and looks good both in the city and in the countryside."
Well thought out floor plan
Seifferts thought so too, who immediately put their money where their mouth is. Special requests in the planning phase were not a problem. "We didn't want to put our house directly on the street and also decided on an entrance solution at the back," explain Beate and Jurgen. Without further ado, the house was turned around and moved about ten meters into the lot. "Open living with lots of light and few doors", that's how Beate wanted the room layout on the first floor to be. In the attic, the family did away with the open gallery, gaining a well-lit hobby and work space. The flat gable roof with a slope of only 20 degrees and the jamb height of 1.70 meters ensure that this level can be used fully and without roof slopes. The building owners also liked the option of contracting out individual work and trades themselves. Floor coverings and painting work were paid for by muscle mortgage and spared the building budget, which was calculated with a sharp pencil.
Hurdles taken together
Because stratified water was detected on the property, which slopes to one side, the design called for raising the floor slab by a total of ten centimeters. While Beate and Jurgen Seiffert experienced the planning phase and the subsequent sampling as smooth, a drop of bitterness mixed in with the good mood of the builders up to that point. "The weather almost threw a wrench in our schedule, because the summer of 2017 also gave us a lot of water from above. Here's why every dry day was put to intense use. After eight months of construction, we were still able to move in on schedule," reports the developer. To the delight of the whole family, who also fondly remember the topping-out ceremony, which was "just great."
Surprisingly much space
Visitors are amazed at the amount of space available in a total living area of about 160 square meters. From the spacious hallway, residents enter the spacious and open living, dining and kitchen area, the communicative center of the house. Daylight penetrates from three sides through windows that are floor-to-ceiling to the terrace and garden. The large glass surfaces blur the boundaries between indoors and outdoors, turning the terrace into a "living room in the green" during the warmer months of the year. The first floor space also includes a small shower room, the guest toilet, the utility room and the study used by Jurgen Seiffert, which the mechanical engineer now appreciates very much.
A modern wooden staircase leads to the top floor. From here, the residents reach their retreat areas. This includes two children's rooms for the daughters as well as a high-quality bathroom with tub and floor-level shower. The parental bedroom and an additional dressing room round off the available space. Smart and modern: on this level, a cathedral ceiling gives the hallway a touch of spaciousness. By foregoing an open gallery inherent in the house type, another room was also gained – Beate's realm for tailoring, tinkering with the children or studying for her advanced training as an expert in property valuation.
Building owner's wish fulfilled all round
Since moving in at Easter 2018, the family has been enjoying their home to the fullest. The seven-year-old daughter's way to school is safe and almost without car traffic, and her parents can reach their respective places of work in 15 to 30 minutes, which is unusual by Berlin standards. Grandparents and aunt live nearby and are happy to step in to look after the daughters. Jurgen Seiffert is particularly pleased that the energy consumption for heating and hot water is 3,500 kilowatt hours per year, which is much lower than expected. "Everything done right," he concludes – with the energy saver in KfW Efficiency House Standard 55 thanks to a modern air-to-water heat pump and solid construction. The subsidies and repayment subsidy claimed on this basis were extremely welcome.
When asked if they have one or two tips for people who want to build, Seifferts reply: "We have had good experience with an external construction supervisor from the Bauherrenschutzbund, who – unlike a layman – can communicate with the construction manager and tradesmen at eye level. It is also important not to save at the wrong end and to include additional sockets and cables, for example for the outdoor facilities, in the overall budget."