Description

In 2019, a new building opened in Hamburg’s northern Überseequartier with a name that harbours hipster aspirations with its dropped vowels: KPTN is a mixed-use block, a massive building that adheres to the HafenCity master plan, but one that has been finely crafted in clinker brick. Despite its huge size, the architects have managed to give it a soul with varied façades. The block is sliced through towards one end creating a small square for cafés and dividing the urban block into a large U to the south and a small U to the north, the end of which faces onto the street Am Sandtorkai. The block as well as the design for the southern “big U” of the building was developed by the Hamburg architects blauraum. Above the ground-floor shopping area, it contains flats, some subsidised at a rent per square metre of 8.50 € and some higher-priced at up to 24 €. The flats range from one to four-room flats, the smallest of which are 45 m², the largest 120 m². Among the most desirable of these are the studio flats on the west side, which were marketed partially furnished. Contrary to expectations, most of the flats are the resident’s primary home, dispelling fears that the block could perpetuate the problem of “barren” urban life in the earlier sections of the HafenCity along Am Sandtorkai/Dalmannkai, where second residences are not occupied year-round.

The master plan envisages the Überseequartier as the “vibrant urban heart” of the HafenCity, and this might just succeed. During the day, local amenities, the university at Elbtor and offices in the neighbouring quarter bring life to the urban streetscape and promenade of the “Überseeboulevard”. For nightlife to flourish it is hoped that a theatre and cinema as well as a hotel and short-stay flats will enliven the northern “small U” of the KPTN, designed by Nalbach + Nalbach from Berlin. The cinema was established by Hans-Joachim Flebbe, who as founder of the Cinemaxx company also runs the Berlin Zoo-Palast. The hotel on the floors above is run, among others, by the owners of the “Miniatur Wunderland”.

Although the architects have used brick slips instead of solid bricks and plastic instead of aluminium or wood and aluminium for the windows in the subsidised section, the detailing is nevertheless careful and precise. The south façade is divided in a two-to-one ratio. The shorter façade on the west side of the “big U” contains the high-end rental units over six storeys. The rest of the façade is an array of alternating balconies and window arrangements spanning seven storeys within the same building height. This also applies to the mid-priced segment on the east side, but the window types do not change here. The top-price segment has sliding windows with ventilation flaps that insulate against noise from outside even when open. Although balconies were not permitted on this side, the architects were able to negotiate the use of French-style small triangular balconies in front of spacious window fronts.

Although blauraum drew up the plans for both the small and big U-shaped blocks, the two sections are independent of one another. Nalbach + Nalbach’s non-residential building to the north is clearly more expressive, which is appropriate given its function. It is, so to speak, the entertainment centre of the K(a)P(i)T(ä)N ocean steamer.

Originally published in Bauwelt 16.2020, pp. 40-45, abridged and edited for Building Types online, translated by Julian Reisenberger

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