herzog & de meuron and VOGT plan 'grasbrook' neighborhood for hamburg

herzog & de meuron, in collaboration with landscape architecture firm VOGT, has won a competition to design ‘grasbrook’, a new neighborhood for the german city of hamburg. the plans will see a former port area on the southern bank of the norderelbe turned into a new, central neighborhood, with 3,000 apartments, 16,000 workplaces, and spacious recreational areas.

all images © herzog & de meuron / VOGT

the centerpiece of herzog & de meuron and VOGT’s competition-winning scheme is a large park surrounded by residential areas. the design team says that existing heritage protected buildings alongside the docks will be preserved and will form a starting point for the new development. meanwhile, the sweeping canopy of an existing building will become a central open space in the new quarter. a row of commercial buildings will run along the road axis in the east and the port area in the south.

the center of the neighborhood, accommodating shops, cafés, and a weekly market, is connected to the adjacent district via a wide pedestrian bridge. a detailed functional and development plan will now be drawn up, the plots of land allocated, and the architectural planning of the individual buildings started. construction on the new neighborhood is scheduled to start as early as 2023.

project info:

design: herzog & de meuron and VOGT landschaftsarchitekten
name: grasbrook urban development
location: hamburg, germany
program: 3,000 apartments, 16,000 workplaces, and recreational areas