Brick Expressionism Reborn with a Contemporary Twist in a Mixed-use Building

Set among historic canals and Hamburg’s most vibrant streets, this new mixed-use building designed by Christ & Gantenbein stands out for its ability to combine tradition and innovation. Recently completed, the project is a concrete example of how architecture can bridge past and future, while also respecting historical identity.

An urban fabric rich in meaning

Between Willy-Brandt-Strasse, the city’s main artery, and the picturesque Nikolaifleet canal, the building occupies a highly characteristic area of Hamburg. Located near a bridgehead, the building faces Hopfenmarkt square, an important public space with an eclectic style dominated by the spire of St. Nikolai, a historic symbol of Hamburg. The structure’s site creates a link between the traditional Fleet Houses – emblematic examples of the city’s maritime architecture – and the more modern buildings along Willy-Brandt-Strasse, with the effect of uniting these typologies in a striking landmark building.

The design team set out to harmonize the building’s massing and façade composition with the adjacent structures to reflect a city in constant evolution. The façade, articulated by semicircular pilasters with red brick cladding, references 20th-century brick expressionism (Backsteinexpressionismus) but reinterprets it in a contemporary vocabulary that emphasizes texture and the artisanal quality of the material.

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Tradition meets innovation

The building comprises two distinct volumes. One is higher, more angular, and houses offices, while the other is residential, with larger openings facing the canal to provide privacy and reduced noise levels. Concrete with brick cladding, the exterior load-bearing structure is notable for the use of local materials and craft aesthetic, with the cladding manufactured by Rusch, a family-operated brickworks established in 1881 in the Elbmarsch municipality of Hamburg, chosen for their quality product and tradition.

Two main entrances – one for the offices, one for the residences – are off the square. A central stairwell in the office block creates a flexible subdivision of the floor plates and is daylit on two or three elevations, depending on the floor level. At street level, a restaurant and multifunctional canal-front spaces breathe life into the building and invite the vibrancy of the city inside.

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