Urban Restructuring Robert-Koch-Strasse Hamburg
AWARDING AUTHORITIES
Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg GmbH
ABR Dritte Commercial Gmbh & Co. KG
ABR Vierte Commercial Gmbh & Co. KG
PROGRAM
Town hall, elementary school, housing, business
PLANNING AREA 25ha
RESULTS
1st Prize scenario 2
3rd Prize scenario 1
urban design competition by invitation
2014
In Hamburg’s popular district of Eppendorf, a central area between Lenhartzstraße and Robert-Koch-Straße is getting a new urban layout. Presently, the preserved buildings of Bezirksamt Nord and the elementary school St. Nikolai occupy the area with their expansive structures. The neighboured blocks are characterised by mixed building structures from Wilhelminian to contemporary.
An urban design competition aimed to explore the possibilities for creating urgently needed residential space and a modern district office building. Concepts were developed in different variations ignoring the restrictions given by the historic buildings authority.
Version 2 (Keeping the existing land plot borders) shows polygonal blocks and a u-shaped school building that form the central open space as part of a coherent sequence of different public spaces. The new school and its gymnasium define an enclosed schoolyard that is separated from the street by a connecting pergola. The new district office building establishes the quarter’s address and visibility while integrating the most identity-creating part of the existing Bezirksamt. Creating a dense structure of closed blocks provides for efficient land use and a clear differentiation of public and private space. The ground floor is raised over street level and flats are oriented towards both sides. The new buildings’ appearance and materialisation of their facades shall be adopted from the architectural language spoken by the direct neighbourhood.
In Version 1 the existing fragments in the southern part are integrated in bigger blocks that reflect the block shapes on the opposite side of Lenhartzstraße and curved Robert-Koch-Stieg continues its course over the plot. In the northern part, a coherent ensemble of a compact school building, the new district office building and a residential block with integrated day-care facility forms an individual open space that concentrates public functions and characterises atmosphere and urban life in the area.
An urban design competition aimed to explore the possibilities for creating urgently needed residential space and a modern district office building. Concepts were developed in different variations ignoring the restrictions given by the historic buildings authority.
Version 2 (Keeping the existing land plot borders) shows polygonal blocks and a u-shaped school building that form the central open space as part of a coherent sequence of different public spaces. The new school and its gymnasium define an enclosed schoolyard that is separated from the street by a connecting pergola. The new district office building establishes the quarter’s address and visibility while integrating the most identity-creating part of the existing Bezirksamt. Creating a dense structure of closed blocks provides for efficient land use and a clear differentiation of public and private space. The ground floor is raised over street level and flats are oriented towards both sides. The new buildings’ appearance and materialisation of their facades shall be adopted from the architectural language spoken by the direct neighbourhood.
In Version 1 the existing fragments in the southern part are integrated in bigger blocks that reflect the block shapes on the opposite side of Lenhartzstraße and curved Robert-Koch-Stieg continues its course over the plot. In the northern part, a coherent ensemble of a compact school building, the new district office building and a residential block with integrated day-care facility forms an individual open space that concentrates public functions and characterises atmosphere and urban life in the area.
