David Chipperfield Architects has won an international competition to design a new office and commercial building in the Hafencity district of Hamburg, which will be the tallest building of the city.

Developed by SIGNA Prime Selection AG, the 230-metre tower will be built on the riverside, near the well-known Elbbrücken, and situated on the opposite site of Herzog & de Meuron-designed Elbphilharmonie Hall. The new tower, called Elbtower, will form a counterpoint to the Elbphilharmonie to the west due to its strategic location on the city.

The Elbtower, occupying a triangular plot at the point where the River Elbe and Oberhafen canal converge, stands on the site as a freestanding, sculpted building. 

Rising as a tapered tower above a public atrium, the building complements and contrasts with the form of the Elbphilharmonie, which is developed as part of a masterplan for the Hafencity. 

"In contrast to the tower’s light appearance when viewed from a distance, the ground floor forms a more solid podium, embedded in the topography of the site," said David Chipperfield Architects in the project description.

The building's podium will be opened to the city, linking to the train and underground station to the east and a bicycle-bridge over the canal to the north. 

These entrances converge to create an inner courtyard which provides access to the tower and extends the surrounding public realm. The podium and first floors will consist of public functions, including bar, hotel, restaurant, retail and exhibition areas, while the tower largely comprises office space in upper floors.

The entire floors will occupy a 104,000-square-metre area above ground. The facade of the tower is clad with a delicate screen of cambered, light-coloured aluminium profiles, which will serve as a solar protection and give a moiré effect. 

While the curtain wall plays with the reflections of the sun during the day, a lighting concept developed by Studio Other Spaces will transform the Elbtower into a kinetic light sculpture at night. David Chipperfield Architects will work with Belgian Wirtz International Landscape Architects and Arup on this project.

David Chipperfield Architects recently faced with strong criticism by Swedish National Heritage Board for the new Nobel Center which is planned to built in the heart of Stockholm, Sweden. 

The critics say that the proposed building will considerably damage to the national interest of Stockholm’s inner city, the surrounding cultural environment in Djurgården.

Project facts

Competition: 2017 – 2018
Gross floor area: 104.000 m2 (aboveground)
Client: SIGNA Prime Selection AG, Innsbruck
Architect: David Chipperfield Architects Berlin
Partners: David Chipperfield, Christoph Felger (Design lead), Harald Müller
Project architects: Barbara Koller (competition phase 1),Thomas Pyschny (competition phase 2)
Competition team: Konrad Basan, Kerstin Bigalke, Andrew Davis,Ivan Dimitrov, Emmi Frank, Fadi Kilani, Dalia Liksaite, Pascal Maas, Carthage Murphy, André Silva Oliveira, Ken Polster, Franziska Rusch, Diana Schaffrannek, Matthijs Sioen, Simon Wiesmaier, Julienne Zuern

Engineering: Arup Ltd., London
Fire consultant: brand + Brandschutz Planbar, Berlin
Landscape architect: Wirtz International nv, Schoten
Light art installation: Studio Other Spaces, Berlin with Olafur Eliasson and Sebastian Behmann

All images courtesy of David Chipperfield Architects

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