A Strikingly Minimal Home Built in Less Than Six Months
Soaring ceilings, built-in furniture, and minimal color make this German home feel huge.
Built on a small site in the outskirts of Munich, House B provides a smart solution to the region’s public construction restrictions, which reduced the available building area to one-third its size. Robert Maier and Stefan Hanninger, co-founders of the German firm Format Elf Architekten, maximized the amount of living space in the 2,690-square-foot home by creating open, unobstructed interiors punctured with windows for constant natural light. An asymmetrical pitched roof covers a high-ceilinged lounge that gives way to bedrooms and bathrooms on the second floor. An open-plan kitchen and living area occupy the ground level, where glazed windows offer sweeping views of the backyard garden. Custom built-in furniture, championing the home’s pared-down aesthetic and muted color scheme, ensures everything has a place.