Hamburg-Harburg Harbor, Germany, is on the cusp of it’s first nearly entirely sustainable creative-industrial complex. The development ECO CITY, designed by tec architecture with the help of ARUP, aims to attract industry, entertainment and pedestrian life back to the neighborhood. ECO CITY’s ten major structures, ranging in size from studios to large warehouses, offer a variety of “different spaces for different purposes, bringing both large-scale industry and creative start-ups together in one, cooperative, and eco friendly business community.”
More about ECO CITY after the break.
“ECO CITY represents a synergistic approach to urban development,” explains tec Principal Sebastian Knorr. “By working in close cooperation with all the stakeholders and taking into consideration the immediate environmental context of the project, we’ve created a different type of sustainable, creative-industrial complex. We hope that iconic ECO CITY project becomes a model for sustainable urban development.”
As for some of the sustainable functions, the ECO CITY will include large wind turbines to generate more than 10% of the complex’s power; solar water heating; solar technology; environmentally friendly materials; and passive design techniques and efficient façade design to reduce energy consumption by about 30%.
The project stresses the need for a small carbon footprint as over 40% of ECO CITY’s footprint consists of open air. Green roofs will be elevated to gain more access to air and sunlight and more than half the site will be covered with vertical gardens.
ECO CITY is seeking the highest level of environmental certification for the three major green building rating systems in the world: USGBC’S Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Program, the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method, and the German Sustainable Building Councils Program.
The first phase of the project is complete, and the second phase, which includes plans for the high-rise tower and a major office complex will be completed around the summer of 2010.
