Resilient Hamburg development Oberbillwerder, by ADEPT and Karres en Brands, is well on its way to becoming one of Europe’s most sustainable urban districts. The largest of its kind and one of just eight urban developments, the masterplan was recently pre-certified with DGNB Platinum, the highest possible rating in the system.

Titled Oberbillwerder, the masterplan is the largest one-off urban development in Germany since Hafencity and covers a build area of 124 ha within an impressive 360 ha planning area. 

Fully developed, the district will accommodate around one million square meters - more than 7.000 residential units, 4.000 workplaces, new schools, sports facilities. Some of the most central aspects in the development is to adapt the district to future mobility, infrastructure and resources. 

Other elements are water management and climate adaption, both a visibly integrated part of Oberbillwerder’s urban layout and recreational activities.

The detailed plans for the resilient district has been analyzed thoroughly by the German DGNB Council through an extensive process focusing on the more than 30 criteria within ecology, economy, sociocultural and functional sustainability, process and technical quality. The preliminary result shows that Oberbillwerder meet more than 80 percent of the criteria, making it one of Europe’s most sustainable urban developments.

"A DGNB Platinum pre-certification of Oberbillwerder clearly shows that resilient development of new urban districts is not just about sustainability or climate adaption. It is crucial that we design holistic urban plans including all the city’s layers to create a robust and flexible framework for development," said Martin Laursen, partner in ADEPT.

"Oberbillwerder opens a new chapter about resilient urban development. To us, the DGNB-certification is both a measure and a quality assurance of our work."

Oberbillwerder is the first urban district of its size to achieve a platinum pre-certification. At the moment, just eight other urban developments in Europe fulfill the requirements for the highest rating, all of them transforming smaller existing urban areas.

Project facts

About Oberbillwerder – The Connected City

Place: Hamburg, Germany
Client: IBA Hamburg
Design Team: ADEPT, KARRES+BRANDS, Transsolar
Masterplan: ADEPT, KARRES+BRANDS
Engineering and sustainability: Transsolar
City Economics: Buro Happold Berlin
Consultant on water management: Ingenieurbüro Kraft
Program: Mixed-use masterplan, housing, offices, retail, public buildings, recreational activities, urban agriculture, sports and activity Park. Size: 124ha/360ha, 1.000.000 m2 GFA masterplan,
Status: Plan approved by Hamburg City Council 2019, Pre-certified DGNB Platinum 2019

All images © ADEPT, KARRES+BRANDS

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