Neumayerstrasse
Housing - Hamburg, Germany, 2014
INTENTION
The building plot is situated in close proximity of two architectural monuments of Hamburg's typical construction style. The future setup in this designated area should hence pay respect to its historical neighbourhood, preserving a modern attitude of its own, not being grovelling. The intention of this design is to respect individuality, yet generating an integrating community. So the construction plan deliberately lead to a single building structure composed by the three houses, each house acquiring an identity of its own to implement it in the community.
URBAN CONSTRUCTION / THE OPEN SPACE
The construction is integrated into the streetside of Neumayerstraße, complementing the ensemble of Anna-Siemsen-Schule and Abraham-Philipp-Schuldt-Stift. The clear-cut street zone thus forms a pleasant contrast to the smooth transition zone on the parkside.
At the school’s front, the building’s depth is taken up in order to protect the inhabitants’ private garden areas ofthe passing park visitors’ eyes. A large, communal green area, bearing playing fields and seating benches, invites the residents to repose. This big garden court becomes a central square, to cultivate friendship within the neighbourhood. At the old Elbpark’s edge, the existing green structure is additionally densified. This produces a naturally granted dissociation from the general public. At the same time, the vast terraces embody the ground floor residents’ islands of intimacy.
STRUCTURAL SHELL / FAÇADE
The three constructions communicate multifariously with their historical neighbours through the façades of Neumayerstraße. They repeat existing motives, reinterpret them, take over on the materials and become the historical monuments’ modern relatives.
The elegant, curved line management of the roof dormers and of the entrances gives the building structures a discreet airiness. The delimitation of roof and basement from the middle section is underlined by low-lying windows.
The construction’s middle section is shaped by a façade of casement windows, its windows expanding downwards in order to guarantee equal light conditions for all apartments. Sometimes windows are band together to generate more bounteous views. In this case, the windows’ frameworks form miniature French balconies, enlivening the street image.
The windows’ white, filigree frames approach gradually toward the building’s corners, advancing in street direction, in such a way contributing to the façade’s great plasticity and high degree of recognition. The garden façade, as well as the two narrow sides of the building, adopt the street façade’s design, applying it to their standard. The entire construction bears individual appearances on all four sides, producing a pleasantly exciting overall picture.
