Danish design studio ADEPT has been named winner of the competition for a large public administration building in the center of Hamburg, Germany. The building, which counts almost 34.000 m2, will be one of Germany’s largest CLT buildings and is scheduled for occupancy in 2026.

In the next few years, one of Germany’s largest buildings with a full wood construction, initiated by public real estate company Sprinkenhof GmbH, will be completed in the Wandsbek district of Hamburg. The building is designed by the Danish studio ADEPT, and the almost 34.000 m2 administration building will, when completed, accommodate 800 workplaces and create the framework for the citizens’ meeting with the public administration.

The client envisions the building as a sustainable pilot project where the sustainability of the house is visible and present - and where the green facades and exposed CLT constructions tell the story of the values the client wants to be known for.

‘The client’s high ambitions to build the house as a beacon for sustainable construction fit well with our own passion for creating sustainable solutions rooted in functionality and users. It is enormously inspiring to build for a public developer who takes on the responsibility of supporting behavioral changes in users and society towards a deeper responsibility towards the earth’s resources’, says Anders Lonka, the project’s responsible partner.

The project is being built on a narrow plot, the Wandsbeker Zollinsel, that has given it its characteristic narrow shape. To turn the scale of the long building more human oriented, the building is split into smaller shifted volumes, which alternate in height and facade motifs to make the overall impression varied and vibrant. 

Towards the primary arrival plaza, which creates a new attractive urban space, a fully greened gable rises above street level. On the rest of the façade there are green elements that reflect the green roof gardens at the top. The building is planned to be certified DGNB Gold as a minimum.  

The outer facades are designed to show-case the sustainable ambitions with great emphasis to a high degree of openness and interaction with users and seek to create a warm and inviting atmosphere throughout the building. 

‘In 2020, we have opened an office in Hamburg to optimize our consultancy on a number of ongoing projects, and we hope, of course, that with the realization of the administration building in Wandsbek we will have even more opportunities to work with the larger sustainable building projects ‘, says Anders Lonka.

In Germany, among other projects, ADEPT is the architect behind the development of Oberbillwerder, the new 105th district in Hamburg; the development of the 1100 ha district Neuperlach in Munich as well as the transformation of the cultural building Marinehaus in Berlin.