Quarters

A Metropolitan Business and Residential Neighborhood with View

HafenCity’s eye-catching eastern entrance, with its closeness to water and green Entenwerder Island, also make the neighborhood a very attractive place to live

Skyscrapers, water on three sides and the expansive new Chicago Square will be the essential elements of this future location for business and homes (© fotofrizz)

Elbbrücken quarter, named for this major River Elbe bridging point, will be HafenCity’s second urban center after Überseequarter. Spectacular high-rises, water surfaces on three sides and a large central plaza characterize this very densely built business and residential location.

Three striking towers will be built next to the Elbbrücken bridges. Visible for miles around, they will mark the eastern entry point to HafenCity and the rest of the city, without detracting from Hamburg City’s silhouette. Rising 150m with up to 40 stories in each tower, buildings of comparable height anywhere else would spoil Hamburg’s famous outline of church spires. Large retail users will also be part of the Elbbrücken center.
 
Corporate eastern entry to HafenCity

In addition to the high-rise ensemble, several elongated block structures six to seven stories high will be built along Versmannstrasse. Fourteen-story stand-alone towers will form the built structure in front of the Freihafen bridge crossing the Elbe and the rail tracks to the east.

Overall large business enterprises could lend Elbbrücken extraordinary presence.
But smaller and growing businesses will also benefit by relocating there. A broad spectrum of properties for service businesses and great accessibility offer ideal conditions for dynamic growth.

At home at the head of Baakenhafen basin

To allow residential space and offices to be closely clustered together in order to reduce noise, the eastern end of Baakenhafen harbor basin will be partly filled in. This will allow buildings to be erected in a double row. Moving eastwards through the quarter, there is an increasing concentration of retail, catering and particularly office and hotel uses. Higher commercial buildings will shelter inward-lying residential buildings. Despite the volume of traffic crossing bridges and using Versmannstrasse, this will create noise-protected zones ideal for homes. Almost 1,000 high quality apartments will be built here.

The neighborhood’s large square will become a metropolitan meeting place in eastern HafenCity. It will be built in the water of Baakenhafen harbor basin and bordered by buildings on three sides. Like the squares laid out in western HafenCity, this one, too, will extend toward the water on a variety of levels. Surrounding buildings will house many cafés, restaurants, bars and shops on their ground floors.

Subway station at Elbbrücken

A water basin out of tidal range is planned for the eastern part of Baakenhafen. This 7.6 hectare pool will resemble an artificial lake. Neighborhood users will experience proximity to the water much more intensely than elsewhere in HafenCity. The embankment rim of the basin will also serve as a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists. An additional footbridge east of the Elbbrücken bridges will connect the neighborhood with Entenwerder Elbpark. The link will carry the European Elbe Cycle Route along the
riverbank to HafenCity and northwards past Lohsepark through the Speicherstadt.

To ensure that Elbbrücken functions as an urban business and residential quarter in accessibility terms, the U4 subway will be extended from the west, below ground this far and then on above ground. Elbbrücken subway station could eventually connect with the rapid transit system (S-Bahn).

Urban planning development starts from 2015/16 primarily on conclusion of construction works in Baakenhafen quarter and continues to 2025. Planning for main access roads, embankment zones and clearance of sites is already under way as is planning of Elbbrücken subway station.