Quarters

Corporate Location in the Speicherstadt

Brooktorkai/Ericus’ position between the Speicherstadt and existing city center makes it well suited as a corporate location

With its optimal location vis-à-vis the existing city center, Brooktorkai's meandering structure extends over four building plots. Ericus Contor and the Spiegel publishing house on Ericusspitze are currently under constructionand establish a continuous connection (© ELBE&FLUT) Start slideshow

The Brooktorkai/Ericus neighborhood has a specifically maritime character: it is fringed by the historic brick buildings of the Speicherstadt, by Brooktorhafen, and the water passage linking Holländischbrookfleet canal. The western part of Brooktorkai, comprising a total 54,000 sqm gross floor area (GFA), was developed by Germanischer Lloyd AG and Quantum Immobilien AG.

The move of 1,600 employees of Germanischer Lloyd in March 2010 was the biggest corporate relocation into HafenCity so far. One of the three towers in the ensemble offers 30 apartments with views of Lohsepark: the first tenants took up residence in 2011. Right next door, the International School of Management has been preparing students for future careers in international business since 2010.

The outstanding feature of Brooktorkai is the meandering structure of its architecture, visually broken up and enhanced by three nine-floor tower blocks. The red-brick facework of the building en-semble echoes the color of the nearby Speicherstadt. The firm of gmp, Gerkan, Marg und Partner (Hamburg), won the urban design competition for Brooktorkai (excluding Ericusspitze). Also successful in architectural competitions alongside gmp were Jan Störmer architects (Hamburg) and Antonio Citterio and Partners (Milan).

A bridge almost like a square

Outside, the Brooktorkai open space is extended by Shanghaibrücke road bridge, designed by Dietmar Feichtinger (Paris, Vienna), crossing Brooktorhafen harbor. Almost as wide as it is long, the bridge offers generous space for pedestrians and cyclists. On the northern side of the promenade, an underpass under the bridge provides a link free of motorized traffic from Ericusspitze to the Elbe. The Hamburg association of architects and engineers chose Shanghaibrücke as one of three Hamburg Buildings of the Year in 2006.

An additional pedestrian bridge, Leonbrücke, connects the new Brooktorhafen harborside promenade with the new Dar es Salaam square, which was opened in June 2011 as part of the Magdeburger Hafen open space ensemble. The bridge, together with the promenades, forms the backbone of the close-knit footpath system in HafenCity.
 
Changing levels

The landscaping of large open spaces on Brooktorkai and at Ericusspitze was carried out by WES & Partner Landschaftsarchitekten (Hamburg). A 30m stone sofa on Brooktorkai promenade looks out over the harbor basin, spacious steps at Ericusspitze invite strolling passersby to change levels – steps for sitting or walking on rise to a plaza with views over the Ericus canal and Oberhafen harbor basin.

Major publishing house at HafenCity gateway   
 
Here at the northeastern entrance to HafenCity, Robert Vogel GmbH & Co. KG and the ABG group of companies have built a new publishing house for the Spiegel group, as well as the Ericus Contor office building. In September 2011, the publisher amalgamated its business activities here in about 30,000 sqm GFA. The Spiegel group’s new building has a preliminary gold HafenCity Ecolabel. Henning Larsen architects (Copenhagen) designed both the publishing house and Ericus Contor (20,000 sqm GFA) with their light-colored façades and vast shared plinth. The concept associates the buildings closely with the nearby Speicherstadt and Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall, underlining their outstanding signi-ficance as an entry to central HafenCity.