Caruso St John has won an international competition for a new headquarters for German publishing giant Gruner + Jahr in Hamburg. The winning scheme, chosen over RIBA Gold Medal winners O’Donnell + Tuomey, and Berlin-based ROBERTNUEN Architekten, features “striking green-enameled ceramic struts and three partially covered interior courtyards.”
The 60,000-square-meter scheme will be located in the Lohsepark area of the city, where it will form part of the HafenCity ensemble of office, commercial, and residential buildings.
The jury, comprised of Gruner + Jahr, city representatives, architects, investor Warburg-HIH Invest Real Estate, and project developer HIH Real Estate, was impressed by the “clean composure and high quality” of the scheme, drawing connections with the restrained Hamburg Kontorhaus office typology of the late 19th century.
The scheme features a row of green-glazed ceramic struts soaring above an open ground floor housing restaurants, television studios, co-working spaces, and “contemporary art space for the city.” The ceramic struts taper towards the top, hand-crafted to create an “iridescent green appearance when viewed from the side.”
Three courtyards are contained within the scheme, around which flexible offices and meeting areas are grouped. Upper floor offices culminate in a series of rooftop terraces and social spaces, offering views across Hamburg.
We consider ourselves to be the most creative and most innovative publishing house. The way we work has changed – many new products and enterprises are taking shape across editorial departments, in constantly changing team structures. We need a building that can keep pace with our change, and which is a good fit for us – a building that is not modernistic and pretentious but instead is of enduring elegance. The design submitted by Caruso St John is hugely successful in achieving this. We are very much looking forward to working with them.
-Julia Jäkel, CEO, Gruner + Jahr
In addition to the Caruso commission, Baumschlager Eberle architects from Berlin were victorious in the residential construction category of the competition. The competition entries from all 20 participating architectural offices, for both the commercial and residential categories, will be exhibited from October 6 to October 21, 2018, at HafenCity InfoCenter im Kesselhaus, Am Sandtorkai 30, 20457 Hamburg, Germany.
Construction is expected to begin in 2019.
News via: Gruner + Jahr
