“Deutschlandhaus” Mixed-Use Building

Located on Hamburg’s central Gänsemarkt, the new Deutschlandhaus is a constant source of pleasant surprises. Although thoroughly contemporary in design, it slips effortlessly into its listed urban context, its many innovative features becoming only gradually apparent to the attentive observer.

The site itself is of major significance, being where a building of the so-called “Brick Expressionism” movement once stood. Although damaged during World War II, it survived until no longer fit for purpose, when it was finally demolished. The new project was therefore bound by the stringent planning regulations of the Hamburg-Mitte neighborhood and by the historic heritage authorities.

Hadi Teherani Architects were the winners of a competition that took the form of a workshop. Their ingenious project makes clear reference to Hamburg’s traditional mercantile Kontorhäuser, creating – successfully, in my view – a symbolic building in keeping with the traditions of its context, with an inner court accessible to the general public. In time, this spacious public court will become uniquely synonymous not only with the building but also with the square itself. A clear reference to the previous construction is the brick cladding, now applied with innovative technology. The inner court too, is a heritage feature; only now, it has been given a roof. 

The gross surface area of about 40,000 sq. m accommodates offices, retail space and a residential section. The below-grade parking area can hold around 175 vehicles. A separate block facing Valentinskamp, the residential section has a separate entrance and a façade with regularly aligned windows.

The retail spaces are at ground level. Also on the ground floor, the atrium in the main entrance – clad in the same bricks as the street-facing façades and embellished with a water feature – leads up via an escalator to the...

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