Elbbrücken neighborhood

Towers up to 150 meters high will stand at HafenCity’s eastern entrance, Elbbrücken Quarter. A new urban concept, closeness to the water and green Entenwerder Island also make the neighborhood a very attractive place to live

(© Fotofrizz)

Elbbrücken quarter will be HafenCity’s second urban center after Überseequartier – but completely different. In future this business and residential location will be densely built with spectacular high-rises, water surfaces on three sides and a large central plaza by the water, Chicago Square. Offering 548,000 sq. m gross floor area (GFA), Elbbrücken will be as large as Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz area. To allow the metropolitan qualities of this neighborhood to develop fully, space will have to be created on two levels: upwards and on the ground.

Urban density of an intensity new to Hamburg will be achieved through construction of high or very high structures in a variety of building types. Right next to the Elbe bridges, three striking towers containing 30 to 40 stories each will stand at the easternmost end of the neighborhood, while along Versmannstrasse, several elongated block structures six to seven stories high will be built. Fourteen-story stand-alone towers will form an architectonic setting between the Freihafen bridge crossing the Elbe, and the rail tracks.

Consequently, a location for significant companies will be delineated in a quality and form that Hamburg has so far lacked. Buildings as high as this in other areas of Hamburg would detract from the inner city’s well-known silhouette of church spires, but here, heights of 150 meters or more will harmonize well with it. The Elbbrücken Center will be visible from a great distance. The tower ensemble will be an urban highlight, forming an imposing entrée to HafenCity as well as Hamburg’s inner city – and representing an extraordinary corporate location.

But other businesses will also benefit by moving into Elbbrücken. The broad spectrum of properties for service businesses, of the most varied typologies, offers dynamically growing companies ideal surroundings in which to develop, in a very accessible location.

Even the 2000 version of the Masterplan saw Elbbrücken as a city neighborhood with the character of a center with many high-rise buildings. The revision of the Masterplan has invested the neighborhood with new potential in urban planning terms. The eastern end of Baakenhafen harbor basin will be partly filled in, which will allow buildings to be erected in a double row. The higher industrial buildings will serve to protect residential buildings behind. Despite the volume of traffic crossing bridges and using Versmannstrasse, this will create a noise-protected zone around Chicago Square, ideal for homes. Almost one thousand very high quality apartments can be built there.

The fine-grained mix typical of Überseequartier will not be so prevalent in Elbbrücken. Residential and office uses will be right next-door to each other, however, thanks to the dense, staggered arrangement of the buildings. Retail, catering and particularly hotel uses will dominate more the further east one goes.

Up to now, Chicago Square only existed as an abstract concept. But now it has at least been defined as a new urban center, for Elbbrücken neighborhood at least. It will be built into the water in Baaken-hafen harbor basin and bordered by buildings on three sides, creating space for a classy public center. Like the squares laid out in western HafenCity, Chicago Square will extend towards the water on a variety of levels. The surrounding buildings will house many cafés, restaurants, bars and shops in their ground floors.

The landscaping of the harbor basin itself has also been thoroughly reworked. In place of a marina, the eastern part of Baakenhafen will contain a basin independent of tidal range. This 7.6 hectare water basin looks like an artificial lake. Users of the neighborhood will experience a special quality of proximity to the water for HafenCity that is more intensive than with tidal waters. The embankment along the basin will also contribute to the integration of the quarter, serving as a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists.

To ensure that Elbbrücken functions as an urban business and residential quarter in accessibility terms, the U4 subway will be extended from the west, at least as far as this; initially underground, then above ground. The Elbbrücken subway station is to be located north of the Elbe bridges, where it can eventually be linked up to the rapid transit system (S-Bahn).

One challenge to be surmounted is how to link Elbbrücken Center with the Chicago Square area, since the rail tracks form a strong barrier in the neighborhood. A lot more thought needs to go into deciding on the most suitable crossings. Development of the neighborhood is due to get under way from 2015.