Hamburg, Germany
Engel & Völkers’ new headquarters and apartments in Hamburg is a building with a unique approach presented by the classic challenge of transparency, organization, and form within a courtyard building typology. While following the urban requirements of the HafenCity district, the building provides a new perspective on the usual disposition of the courtyard typology.
The design of the project began with a pairing of the courtyard building with the organizational system of a hybrid building that contains a multiplicity of different programmatic uses such as apartments, training academy, offices and retail spaces within a singular and identifiable building. The organization of these various disparate programmatic uses are planned uniquely to provide the maximum benefits for each use in plan and section. The exterior of the building reads as a continuous and evenly articulated shell with elaborations that trace the internal differences of the project. The interior contains and reveals a series of shared experiences of its disparate parts.
The courtyard itself is transformed into an atrium as central circulation core and as an urban living room in the tradition of grand hotel lobbies. Its ceiling divides the public domain (training academy, shop, café and gallery) below from the private functions (residential and office) above but also unifies them through the introducing of natural light and views through a skylight.
In addition to the building structure the building is defined by the open and spacious, light-flooded interiors with ceiling-height doors and floor-to-ceiling windows open to the city, the Elbe River, and the city port. Residents of the apartments will also enjoy access to a private gym situated on the 16th floor with panoramic views of Hamburg.
Each floor of the building is a study in balancing transparency and natural light with various degrees of privacy and opacity required for the residential and office interiors by stringent sustainability specifications. The 16-storey ensemble aspires to contribute to the redevelopment of Hamburg’s HafenCity district and to the skyline of the city.
严谨的建筑组合将不同的项目紧密地结合成一座混合建筑。
这个项目的简介要求结合了一家主要房地产公司的总部、零售空间和公寓等通常范围广泛的项目。Meier Partners重新设想了传统的欧洲庭院建筑，将其变成了一种理想的组织策略，将这些不同的功能结合在一个外部结构中，以满足这些要求。
整个建筑的特点是宽敞、光线充足的内部空间，天花板高的门和落地窗，可以欣赏到周围城市、易北河和附近港口的壮丽景色。建筑的每一层都是一个平衡的研究，将这种透明度和充足的自然采光与每个特定项目所需的不同程度的隐私和不透明相结合。作为一个统一的整体，建筑群为汉堡港口新城区的重建和城市天际线做出了重大贡献。
庭院本身是建筑的中心，被设想为一个中庭，既是中央流通核心，又是城市客厅，在大型酒店大堂的传统中。它的天花板将下面的公共区域（商店和咖啡馆）与上面的私人功能（住宅和办公空间）分开，但也通过自然光将它们统一起来。
