Copenhagen-based architecture firm ADEPT and  Dutch design office KARRES+BRANDS, with Transsolar, have won the international competition to design a 1 million-square-metre masterplan in a new development area close to Hamburg City Center. 

The project, called "Oberbillwerder - the Connected City", will comprise housing, offices, retail, public buildings, recreational activities, urban agriculture, sports and activity park, which will consist of village-like low-rise housing developments in a proportionally-scattered layout. 

Encompassing a total of a 360 ha development area, Oberbillwerder is located very close to both city and landscape and will be the largest one-off development in Germany since Hafen City.

A location between meadows, cultivated farming landscape and suburban sprawl gives Oberbillwerder, just a 15 min. ride from the center of Hamburg, an enormous potential as an attractive urban development area with a highly livable and vibrant city environment.

With a truly convincing proposal, ADEPT and KARRES+BRANDS have won the masterplan competition for the area, that shows how Oberbillwerder through a visionary approach can grow as a city of the future.

"With the design of "The Connected City" by ADEPT and KARRES+BRANDS, the jury has selected a forward-looking concept for Oberbillwerder. We want to create a district that shows us what Hamburg should look like in the future. Oberbillwerder should stand for the pleasure of designing, with the possibility to design a lively and urban, future- oriented district as part of our strategy ”Mehr Stadt an neuen Orten” in a beautiful natural and cultural landscape," said Dr. Dorothee Stapelfeldt, Senator for Urban Development and Housing notes.

The existing landscape, Hamburg and the planning of Nordic Cities are among the inspirations behind the winning proposal that is based on clear founding structures, rich in everyday experiences and a high level of urban quality. 

The project's goal is to create an urban development with a starting point in both urban character and the presence of nature, a mosaic of neighborhoods and a focus on diversity under the headline ’ mix to the max’.

"The selected design offers an excellent planning basis. The concept deals very precisely with the sensitive cultural landscape and develops a very specific contribution to this location. The plan has a good sense for the right scale, creates a diverse range of different living and working opportunities. The first architectural sketches are inspiring for the further development of the plan," said Franz-Josef Höing, Oberbaudirektor Hamburg.

"Infrastructure in The Connected City ensures rapid connections to Hamburg’s city center but prioritizes pedestrians, cyclists and public transport, while looking into the future of mobility," said ADEPT in a project statement. 

The team creates the unifying green artery that encircles the plan provides access to all neighborhoods, public buildings and recreational activities. The overall development strategy will embrace social, financial and environmental sustainability as well as climate adaption though a nuanced distribution of functions, typologies and resources.

1/5000 scaled masterplan

The Connected City, vision diagram

ADEPT’s Cortex Park in Denmark was recently recaptured in photographs by architectural photographer Adam Mørk. The studio also completed a wooden public promenade in Aalborg, Denmark. ADEPT is currently working on the largest singular urban development for Budapest. Construction of the first buildings have already started in the 43-ha mixed-use neighbourhood, where built property will count approximately 600,000 square-meters.

Project facts

Project name: 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: 1st prize in international competition in 2018

All images © ADEPT, KARRES+BRANDS

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