ASTOC - Architects and Planners

D-Hamburg Housing Development, HafenCity Hamburg

With the objective to add more affordable apartments to the housing mix at Hamburg’s HafenCity, a closed building block with lowpriced apartments were planned and built at Dalmannkai, southeast of the Sandtorpark. Located between a school and a power station at the Magdeburg Port, the original idea was to construct four to five apartment buildings on small plots, thereby extending the price range of apartments in the HafenCity. As the local building policy encouraged the formation of building groups, the plot (called Baufeld 4) was divided into two parts only: the eastern half was added to a building group (design: Iris Neitmann, Hamburg) while the western half was planned to accommodate a seven-story residential and office building, designed by ASTOC. As a specific building typology, it is a good example of ASTOC’s urban planning principles as applied to this part of the HafenCity: the first floor houses a shop and four double-story home office lofts where self-employed people can live and work. The four upper levels each accommodate four paired apartments. The ground plan allows the bedrooms to be orientated to the north, facing the courtyard, while the living rooms point to the south, facing the street. The free-hold apartments are
mostly between sixty and eighty square meters in size, being ideal for singles or couples while remaining affordable. As there are only few load-bearing walls, the interior design was able to cater to a wide range of individual tastes. The two uppermost levels house large penthouse apartments spread over two stories. A simple perforated facade faces the street which seems to come alive with the different colors of the brick used in its construction.

This housing development has shown how urgent the application of good coordination is to urban planning. Even if all the expectations of middle-class building construction cannot be met on small plots, this particular design has been able to provide high quality, taking inspiration from its neighboring buildings which include an apartment building, designed by Hamburg-based KBNK (Kähne Birwe Krause Nähring), with a shared underground garage, and the nearby Katharinen School, designed by Spengler & Wiescholek from Hamburg.

Local representative: Kunst + Herbert, Hamburg
Photographer: HG Esch, Hennef