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The new addition by Platzhalter Architektur follows from a remodel of the roof into a functional wooden deck with metal railings, which wraps outward and cantilevers over the sidewalk before ‘turning into’ the larger enclosed concrete volume of the new second-floor space. An entirely-transparent glass wall (with sliding glass doors) eliminates the visual barrier between the outdoors patio area and interior second-story common room.

Large cut-out voids for floor-to-ceiling and partial-skylight windows, combined with the light-colored concrete, make this added piece seem almost entirely the opposite of the existing story it sits upon – yet the overall scale and simplicity of the design makes them feel like parts of a hybrid whole rather than disparate non-matching pieces stuck together. In short, by not ‘over-designing’ the addition the entire work makes for a coherent and unified new building.