Quarters

HafenCity's New Knowledge Quarter

An innovative and sustainable Knowledge Quarter is emerging east of Magdeburger Hafen, featuring HafenCity University, Greenpeace headquarters and designport hamburg

Elbtorquartier's appearance is still characterized by undeveloped spaces and existing building stock. But between 2010 and 2013 the future "Knowledge Quarter" will be HafenCity's main building site. The new U4 subway is under construction in the southern part (© ELBE&FLUT) Start slideshow

A bustling Knowledge Quarter is taking shape between Magdeburger Hafen, Brooktorhafen and Am Lohsepark neighborhood. It owes its special atmosphere not only to the 1,600 students of the new HafenCity University (HCU), which will open its doors in 2013, but also a multitude of other trend-setting projects in science, sustainability and design.

In its urban conception, Elbtorquartier picks up various typologies. While buildings of up to 70m will be erected in the south, a block structure approximately 170m long ties into existing built structure in Hongkongstrasse to the east, which is taken up again next to Magdeburger Hafen.

Striking bridge links west and east

A footpath leads from the Speicherstadt across the Leonbrücke bridge, and directly into the shopping mall in the listed Kaispeicher B building (40). This structure, the oldest in HafenCity, dating back to 1879, forms the distinctive northern entrance to the area. Since summer 2008 it has housed the International Maritime Museum Hamburg.

Both the bridge (architect: Dietmar Feichtinger; engineers: WTM Engineers) and the converted Kaispeicher B (MRLV Marcovic Ronai Voss architects) won Hamburg Architecture of the Year awards in 2007 from the Hamburg association of architects and engineers. HafenCity Hamburg GmbH, as the developer of the bridge, also shared the award.

The route out of the shopping arcade leads across the museum forecourt. A new pier construction is currently being built in an extension of the museum plaza. It will function as an alternative to the promenade, providing a link along the embankment of Magdeburger Hafen basin, via an underpass under Baakenbrücke bridge to Baakenhafen. The historic Busanbrücke bridge, dating from 1931, is the most important east-west bridging point for cyclists and pedestrians in central HafenCity. It joins the western and central neighborhoods with eastern HafenCity. Like the surrounding promenade, the bridge is laid with stripes of natural stone paving, which makes it appear to be part of a square over the water.

Arcades showcase sustainability and design

South of Busanbrücke bridge, construction began in 2011 of the Elbe Arcades, a meandering ensemble of buildings containing a total 30,000 sqm total gross floor area (GFA) based on a design by Bob Gysin + Partner BGP architects (Zurich). By mid-2013, space will be realized for three use components, each totaling around 10,000 sqm GFA. The buildings offer generous space on two levels – the pier level by the water and the flood-protected elevation above – for cafés, shops and exhibitions. Unique to HafenCity so far is the so-called city loggia, an arcaded space, 10m deep and 8m high, with extensive views to the west.

Some 100 homes are to be built on the two northern development sites.  Appro-ximately 55 are to be built by the Garbe group and Otto Wolf, with flexible layouts allowing for a variety of uses ranging from multi-generation homes to lofts for living and working in, duplexes, through barrier-free apartments for seniors (43). The other homes are foreseen exclusively for design-related uses (44a). Public design center designxport will occupy both the basement and ground floor in the central section (44b). It will have around 1,500 sqm of exhibition and event space, a design library and archive, and a shop. For the first time Hamburg’s design and art community will have a central platform for communication and representation.

The German headquarters of environmental organization Greenpeace and eco-energy supplier Greenpeace Energy eG (45) are moving into the southern part of the ensemble. The users insist on highest standards of sustainability for the building, which has the provisional gold HafenCity Ecolabel. Architect Bob Gysin was in consultation with energy-efficient construction experts even during the competition phase.
 
University with an Elbe view

The HafenCity University (HCU) campus, taking shape next to Baakenhafen, is what defines Elbtorquartier as a knowledge quarter. Construction of the HCU building (54) began in December 2010. Designed by architects Code Unique (Dresden), the building’s foyer opens out toward a forecourt, to Magdeburger Hafen, as well as Lohsepark. The lecture halls and seminar rooms have delightful situations with views of the River Elbe. The exemplary all-round ecological concept also has preliminary HafenCity Ecolabel gold certification. At the heart of HafenCity, the Hamburg company ECE plans to build the Intelligent Quarters project on a 9,100 sqm site bordering the Elbe between Magdeburger Hafen and HCU. Here Elbtorquartier will gain a landmark visible for miles around in the shape of a 70m waterfront office tower as well as two further buildings which will house some 60 apartments and, on the ground floor, uses for the public. The architectural competition for the ensemble was won by Störmer Murphy and Partners of Hamburg. Completion is scheduled for the end of 2015.

Two projects lend the quarter distinction in social and spiritual ways. Stadthaus-hotel (48), which will be ready by 2014, will be Europe’s largest integrative hotel: 40 of its 60 staff will be people with disabilities. The three-star hotel, with about 90 rooms and a three-star restaurant, will be particularly suitable for guests with impaired mobility. The operator of Stadt-haushotel is the jugend hilft jugend e.V. association with financial support from the City of Hamburg. The architectural competition was won by Huke-Schubert Berge architects (Hamburg).

Ecumenical Forum and a musicians’ building

In 2012, the ecumenical forum Brücke (49a) will open in Shanghaiallee. Eighteen Christian churches will support this joint project, unique in Germany. The ground floor, accessible to the public, serves as a meeting place, while a chapel offers an oasis of stillness. The Laurentius Convent will also move into the building: members of this ecumenical spiritual community will live here in shared accommodation. The architectural competition to design the 4,600 sqm building was won by Wandel, Hoefer, Lorch + Hirsch architects (Saarbrücken).

To the north and south of the ecumenical forum, two new buildings, each with an unusual concept, are being developed. The joint building venture Bürgerstadt AG will realize sound-proof living and working spaces for musicians, and sound and film specialists (50) from 2012. The architects’ office 360grad+ (Hamburg) won the competition to design the musicians’ house, a structure referencing the clinker-brick façade tradition of the Speicherstadt, but whose expansive window surfaces and loggias set accents of their own. Work on the NIDUS joint building venture project (49) is finished, providing 30 units whose open-plan layouts can be used for shops/apartments, studios or showrooms (design: spine architects, Hamburg).  This is the first joint building venture project to receive preliminary gold certification for the Ecolabel.

Elbtorquartier neighborhood has good public transport connections: Messberg subway station is easily accessible from the north and from fall 2012 the new U4 subway line will open in the south. In addition, the public harbor ferry service will probably be serving a pier adjacent to the HafenCity University forecourt from 2014; a ferry pier starts services from the eastern embankment of Magdeburger Hafen harbor from 2012.