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Architects: gmp: Volkwin Marg, Jürgen Hillmer, Stephanie Joebsch
- Area: 3750 m²
- Year: 2018
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Photographs:Marcus Bredt
Text description provided by the architects. On December 6, 2018, the new Elbbrücken Underground station of the U4 line was ceremonially opened. The station was designed by architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners (gmp) in cooperation with the structural engineers schlaich bergermann partner (sbp). Located at the Elbbrücken bridges at the end of the new HafenCity district, the Underground station with its conspicuous roof construction is a milestone in the development of HafenCity. From December 7, 2018, all visitors to HafenCity can, for the first time, arrive at the new stop and view the growing HafenCity vista from the platform at the Elbe River.
A special feature of the new Underground station is the fact that the railway track emerges from underground and continues above ground in parallel to the Elbbrücken bridges. Here, the architecture of the station will be a conspicuous focal point in the midst of the high-density urban center of the new district. In its highly exposed urban position on the River Elbe, in dialog with the Elbbrücken bridges, the design utilizes the technical possibilities available today to continue the theme of the imposing steel constructions of the past: the sweeping steel arches of the Freihafenelbbrücken and the “fish beams” of the Neue Elbbrücken.
The roof construction with its ellipsoidal arch profile is created from crossing arched steel frames. The twisted steel beams are arranged to form a diamond-shaped grid pattern in which the individual arches stabilize each other. The structural members are outside the envelope—the glazing being supported on the inside—thereby achieving a conspicuous presence in the cityscape, creating anesthetic response to the adjacent Elbbrücken bridges. At both ends of the structure, the roof—following the diamond pattern—comes forward to a point that gives the station its dynamic flair, befitting a modern infrastructure building.
The different levels of the ticket hall, the platforms, and the two bridges for crossing the tracks are accessed via staircases, escalators, and elevators. The top steel bridge provides access to the skywalk that will connect the Underground station with the S-Bahn station. In this project, architecture and structural engineering are closely interconnected; the synthesis of these two disciplinesis mandatory for the optimal development of such a project. The three-dimensional geometry was developed by gmp—Architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners in cooperation with structural engineers schlaich bergermann partner already at the competition stage of the design, which was selected for construction by Hamburger Hochbahn AG.
