The multi-generational passive house on Schönholzer Straße was completed more than 15 years ago, and since then the living situations of many residents have changed. To prepare the building for such developments, several apartments were designed from the outset with the option for future adaptation. This built-in flexibility has already been put into practice in an apartment on the second floor. A couple with two children moved in in 2009, and after both children had moved out, part of the apartment was separated to create a new, self-contained residential unit with its own private access to the stairwell.

The original 120 m² apartment spanned two stairwells but could only be entered from one. A recess in the reinforced concrete wall allowed a passageway to be built from the second apartment entrance to the second stairwell. An additional doorbell and a second bathroom were also installed. The new unit required only the addition of a kitchen, and the former doorway between the bedroom and kitchen was sealed, so the two apartments could be fully separated by a new partition wall.

The newly created flat now consists of a kitchen-diner with balcony access, previously a bedroom, along with two further rooms and a small bathroom, forming a comfortable 50 m² unit. Dividing the apartment not only enables part of the living space to be rented out, ensuring a higher efficiency, but also offers the possibility of providing accommodation for care staff in the residents’ later years.