Jump over the Elbe river

After visiting Grasbrook in Hamburg, KCAP, as one of six firms, starts working on new concepts for developing this old harbour area into a vibrant new neighbourhood. Main challenge will be to connect Grasbrook on the south bank over the Elbe river to the city center and Hafencity on the north side.    

The City of Hamburg has earned a "Special Mention" by the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize 2018. The biannual international award honours outstanding achievements and contributions to the creation of liveable, vibrant and sustainable urban communities around the world. Our own HafenCity project is one of the central transformation initiatives by the City of Hamburg that helped earn the award. Regarding the HafenCity project, the jury lauds: "Hamburg is recognised as an extraordinary port city that has overcome planning challenges to become an attractive and welcoming city of opportunities for a population that now includes a growing number of immigrants. It has very effectively evolved from previous conventional practice of urban expansion on the fringe through the successful implementation of its inner city densification strategy to cater to increased demand for housing and urban mobility from its growing population. The new HafenCity is an excellent demonstration of this strategy. The former underused harbour and industrial space located next to the historical "Speicherstadt" warehouse district has been transformed from a dilapidated area into a dynamic mix-use district of urban housing, workplaces and recreation areas. Recognising that built heritage is an important aspect that adds to the quality of life in an ever-changing environment, the city placed great emphasis on the urban design of the new district to relate to the old city, and to align vistas with the spires of the old churches while also sensitively providing protection against flooding and rising waters." You can find the full jury report here.