Hamburg: The Latest Architecture and News

Since 2007, controversy has been stirring due to the rising costs and delayed schedule of Herzog & de Meuron’s Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg, Germany. Recent reports state the court has approved the city of Hamburg’s €40 million lawsuit against the primary contractor HochTief, who has stopped working in four areas of the €600 million project this past November. HochTief blames the architect due to differences in its plans.

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When we spotted the news on ArchRecord of a major delay for the Elbe Philharmonic, our hearts sank a little. We’ve been covering the building extensively during its construction period and have anxiously been awaiting its completion (a date that was pushed from 2010 to 2012, and, now, is uncertain). Yet, technical difficulties pertaining to the saddle roof structure are creating a tangle between the German contractor Hochtief and the Elbe Philharmonic, leading Hochtief to stop work on the glass facade, the steel roof support structure, the 82m-long escalator and the building services.

More about the halted construction after the break.  

Slowly, but surely, Hamburg’s beautiful Elbe Philharmonic Hall is nearing completion (according to the Philharmonic’s construction website, the roof construction that seals the large concert hall has just been completed!). We shared some photos of the concert hall’s innovative and iconic skin system when we visited Hamburg earlier this year, and recently, Jose Campos shared his latest set with us.

Check out Campos’ photos and learn more about the completed ceiling construction after the break.

Richard Meier & Partners Architects has been awarded the American Architecture Award 2011 for Coffee Plaza in Hamburg, Germany. The American Architectural Awards is one of the most prestigious building awards program in the United States that honors “new and cutting-edge design”. This annual program is organized by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Center for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies to promote the best of new architecture and urban design.

The Coffee Plaza in Hamburg’s HafenCity is planned as a unique center for international coffee commerce and related lines of business. The project encompasses the design of the headquarters for one of the largest coffee trading companies worldwide and two office buildings with rentable areas as well as a public plaza and underground parking. The site is part of the ambitious new Master plan to redevelop Hamburg’s post-industrial port into a viable business, commercial and cultural center and is currently the largest urban development project in Europe. More after the break.

New York architects Richard Meier & Partners announced the opening of the new corporate headquarters for Neumann Kaffee Gruppe (NKG), the world’s largest green coffee service group located in Hamburg’s HafenCity. The site of the new building is a part of a redevelopment initiative of the post-industrial port into a business, commercial and cultural center. Overlooking the Sandtorpark, harbor basins and the traditional skyline of Hamburg, the 12-story glass tower, now called Coffee Plaza, and its two adjacent office buildings, act as an anchor for the renovated harbor.

More information and images after the break.

Continuing our coverage of Herzog and de Meuron’s Elbe Philharmonic Hall, we just found some interesting news regarding the construction site. Currently around 80 meters high, the music hall still has a few years of construction left. As huge cranes rise high above the building, Michael Batz, a scenographer, has taken advantage of the cranes and turned an ordinary construction site into a tourist attraction. Usually, people come to see a finished building – yet Batz’s idea of covering the cranes with blue LEDs creates a new kind of attraction.

Check out more images of the blue cranes, and a close up shot of the skin after the break.

OBRA Architects shared with us their project Spiral Housing: IBA Hamburg Smart Price Houses, a 3000 m2 residential apartment complex with community outdoor space. See more images and architect’s description after the break.

German office rasmussen | brunke | sauer shared with us their design of the new administrative building for BSU in Hamburg, Germany. It was an invited competition and they won the first prize ex aequo with three other offices (Sauerbruch Hutton, Behnisch Architects and GAP). More images and architect’s description after the break.