Inauguration of the Port Hamburg HafenCity “Intelligent Quarters”

The evening of 26 September 2018 was the night of a spectacular party at the seaport of Hamburg. About 700 guests, together with Hamburg’s Senior Mayor Dr. Peter Tschentscher, the HafenCity-Universität president Prof. Walter Pelka, ECE Chief Executive Officer Alexander Otto and STRABAG Real Estate Managing Director Rainer Maria Schäfer, all celebrated the completion of the “Intelligent Quarters“ in the Hamburg HafenCity. A lightshow composed by the artist Michael Batz and fireworks on the river Elbe were the crowning finale to the ceremonies.

KREBS+KIEFER was part of the planning team and the facade design for a “soundproofing ventilation wing” was their contribution to the realization of adequate night noise protection for the residential buildings.

The “Intelligent Quarters“ consist of three buildings WATERMARK, an approximately 70m-high office tower, the SHIPYARD, a seven story office building, and the FREEPORT, a residential building with 8 floors and an impressive view of the port of Hamburg.

Project partners ECE and STRABAG Real Estate, in their 150-million-euro investment for this new HafenCity development, put special value on the architectural and energetic qualities of the ensemble. Designs and overall urban planning compositions were created by the Hamburg architects Störmer Murphy and Partners. In his address towards the end of the evening Mr. Störmer also emphasized the tradition of the white buildings in Hamburg, next to the brick buildings.

KREBS+KIEFER at their Hamburg and Dresden locations were able to contribute the building physics ser-vices for this ambitious project. The aim was the sustainability certificate to the standards of the HafenCity in Gold and the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) - they reached this goal with flying colors. Other items that were of utmost importance in this project were renewable energies on a particularly efficient dis-trict heating network, the effective planning of a thermal building envelope and good heat protection and com-fort for the summer months.

These new quarters, with their many green spaces, young trees, multifaceted gastronomy and direct access to the water have created a new and sophisticated living space for the residents of Hamburg.