Hamburg: QUEST Investment Partners plans prominent new building
- Christ & Gantenbein from Basel wins architectural contest
- New development on Willy-Brandt-Str. 69 provides office, residential and
restaurant spaces - Dismantling of Cremon bridge to benefit Hopfenmarkt and create new vistas
Hamburg, 12 February 2020. It is a superbly located site in the very heart of Hamburg. In April 2019, QUEST Investment Partners, the real estate project development company from Hamburg, launched an international architectural contest for the new development of the Fleet site at Willy-Brandt-Straße 69. A winner has now been selected: With an attractive eight-storey brick building, the architectural office Christ & Gantenbein from Basel stood out against six other participants. “We encouraged the participating offices to create a lively, yet striking and elegant piece of architecture. The building is situated in a prominent location and can therefore be very expressive,” explains Theja Geyer, managing partner at QUEST Investment Partners.
Winning design boasts high aesthetic value and successful spatial integration
“The architects at Christ & Gantenbein submitted an impressive proposal, which is compelling not only in terms of urban planning, but also in terms of its layout and design details.” This was the verdict of the jury, consisting of Chief Planning Director Franz-Josef Höing, representatives of the city and the political parties, the Office for the Protection of Historical Monuments as well as freelance architects. The building comprises more than 7,500 square metres of usable floor space. The plans envisage flexible office spaces, and the ground floor with its large windows could accommodate a café – the perfect place to sip a coffee by the canal. A benefit for Hamburg’s citizens: New apartments are to be built, with loggias overlooking the historical Nikolaifleet. The red brick façade echoes Hamburg’s old building tradition, yet interpreting it in a contemporary way. This creates a visual bridge between the adjacent historical and modern urban architecture of Hamburg. “The building responds to the highly diverse urban dimensions in a subtle way, without appearing too dominant in the overall context,” is how the jury explained its decision.
“The new development of this site is a historic opportunity. Our design transcends the fragmented nature of the current situation and acts as a bridge between the traditional Fleet houses and the modern buildings along Willy-Brandt-Straße,” explain the architects from Christ & Gantenbein. And what is more: “The red brick anchors the building in the surrounding development and associates it with related buildings, such as the one of the Patriotic Society of Hamburg.”
City wants to revive Hopfenmarkt and dismantle Cremon bridge
The City of Hamburg has a clear objective for the district around Willy-Brandt-Straße: It wants to upgrade and revive the area in a sustainable way. The Hopfenmarkt in front of St. Nikolai Church is thus to become a popular urban leisure area again. The square received its name in the 14th century. It was here that brewers bought their hops. Later on, the Hopfenmarkt became Hamburg’s wholesale food market and served a key function for the city for centuries.
In order to open up new vistas of historical buildings such as St. Nikolai Memorial, the Cremon pedestrian bridge is to be dismantled. Instead, an additional traffic light is to improve the pedestrian and bicycle traffic across Willy-Brandt-Straße in a north-south direction.
The current building dates back to 1956, its main tenant being the manufacturer of building materials Holcim GmbH. The building application is scheduled for submission in autumn 2020, with construction work on the project commencing in summer 2022 at the earliest.
About QUEST Investment Partners
QUEST Investment Partners is a real estate project development and investment company with offices in Hamburg and Berlin. QUEST focuses on investments in commercial and residential properties with upside potential in top locations of major German cities. The QUEST team has extensive experience in the development of high-quality real estate projects and continuously aims at increasing the real estate values of its shareholders and investors. QUEST’s shareholders are the managing directors Theja Geyer and Jan Rouven Künzel as well as the investment holding company of the Hamburg entrepreneur Erck Rickmers who is invested in real estate, equity investments and shipping.
