Loft building at Elbberg

The area around Hamburg’s Elbberg is characterised by contrasts: the water of the Elbe on the South, and the Altonaer Balkon (a steeply sloping precipice on the north); from the harbour’s fishery buildings and the surrounding office buildings. The prize-winning lofthaus on the Großen Elbstraße reacts to the various contextual issues. The fanning glass facade on the south side forms associations with the lightness of water, in strong contrast to the more massive, green, copper facade on the land-side of the building. The building stands on columns, which serve to provide protection from flooding and at the same time they emphasise the delicacy and lightness of the south facade. The architects managed to provide 2800 square metres of floorspace onto the extremely tapered, 450 square metre wedge-shaped site. With it’s striking appearance and it’s open planning, the lofthaus is an outstanding part of the urban development plan, which aims to generate a ‘pearl necklace’ of noteworthy architectural objects of flexible use, along this stretch of the Elbe.