Hauptbahnhof Hamburg

Concept

The urban design and open space planning competition for the expansion of Hamburg Central Station and the development of its surroundings presents an opportunity for a comprehensive reorganization and activation of the site.

The design of the Neue Hamburger Halle develops consistently from the context, embracing existing qualities, activating them, and further evolving them. 

The heritage-listed station building is stripped of architectural clutter and carefully revealed. Its façades are reactivated through a new ground floor programme (see interior concept). The prominent west façade becomes a defining architectural element and marks the starting point for the first phase of expansion. In line with the principle of evolutionary development, the design adopts and extends the silhouette of the historic hall, preserving its recognisable urban presence.

Two towers, set slightly back from the extension, frame the façade and underscore the building’s iconic character at a scale appropriate to the surrounding cityscape. 

A new volume along Kirchenallee restructures the urban edge to the west, creating, in the spirit of urban repair, a series of clearly defined and hierarchised public spaces — with the Neue Hamburger Halle as the central civic forum.