When I planned my apartment and accompanied it through the construction phase, I wasn’t concerned with square footage, fixtures, or “more of a good thing.” It was about building a sound overall structure over time. I use this example to illustrate the way I think, and how it creates a lot of added value for others.
For several possible futures
The apartment was meant to work not just for one current life situation but for several possible futures. I wanted to think all of this through together before decisions became final:
Use & adaptability
Renting out part of it, everyday practicality
Technological development
Mobility, energy
Security
Access, everyday convenience
Systemic rather than isolated
That’s why I didn’t plan in isolation during the construction phase, but systemically:
- How do energy supply, mobility, and living comfort interlock?
- Which decisions can be corrected later, and which can’t?
- What affects and controls security, access, everyday convenience?
- Where does it pay to invest early?
This allowed me to avoid later dependencies, limitations, or costly renovations.
What came out of it
Flexible energy architecture
Solar panels (a plug-in balcony system) and later, decentralized storage.
Prepared charging infrastructure
for electric mobility.
Complete network cabling
all the way into the basement and utility rooms.
Security and access solution
that enables different usage and rental scenarios.
Even with details such as how the keys were divided up, where technology like video intercoms was placed, accessibility, or the layout of rooms, I didn’t let myself be guided by looks, purely technical considerations, or “that’s how it’s done.” I chose functionality, flexibility, and viability over time.
What mattered was never maximizing individual aspects, but that they fit together. In other words, that technology, everyday life, future viability, and stable value don’t contradict each other but support one another.
Every decision was examined for the side effects it creates, not just in the short term but over years.
The result
An apartment that works great today but is also suited to other ways of living:
- for families
- for subletting individual rooms
- for accommodating a caregiver
- for changing mobility and energy concepts
- for renting out or selling
Much of it is high-end and, from some perspectives, optional, but above all, it is robust, adaptable, and open to development.
Applied to other contexts
This is exactly how I work in other contexts too: I don’t start with solutions but with the decision space. I consider which factors matter, how factors influence each other, and where later decisions are already being prepared or blocked today.
The added value doesn’t come from a single good idea, nor from a concept full of ideas, but from making sure the pivotal decisions don’t miss what is essential.
More on the method: Decision Architecture.