The Building

In 1959, the approximately 300 acre site consisted of 1,850 allotments with 1,250 temporary buildings housing and 1,700 tenants. At the time, the area was occupied by 4,300 inhabitants, the majority of whom lived in the temporary housing, each occupying around 37 square metres. The floor areas were all generally single storey. By 1967, the entire area had been cleared. The tenants were offered alternative accommodation in the planned housing development along Hindenburgstrasse. Whilst the clearing was taking place, the development of the area was moving forward. In 1963, Kapstadtring and Überseering were completed as construction roads.

Sales negotiations for the first building phase began in 1960 and were completed in 1964. The architectural competition for phase 1 took place from 1962 to 1965. The prize for the first competition was the administration building of the then Hamburgischen Elektrizitätswerke (HEW), now called Vattenfall Europe Hamburg A.G. – Hamburg’s largest electricity provider. Construction of the first office blocks began in the middle of 1964 and by 1969 the first three buildings were occupied. By 1967 the second construction phase and the first section of the central area was ready for development.

To meet the demand for parking space, nearly all the properties had basements excavated in the first phase of construction. These underground car parks proved problematic in that the foundation soil was poor and ground-water levels were very high in some areas. To make them visually more attractive, the roofs of the car parks were covered with greenery, regarded however as unsatisfactory by those involved. The pedestrian levels built in the second construction phase proved a better solution, allowing two stories of garage parking to be created. The ambitious urban development plan came to full fruition in 1974, with the completion of the City Nord Centre.

As the construction phases progressed, planning strategies for City Nord companies had to be improved. Around the end of the 1970s many businesses started complaining about lack of space. By 1977 the total floor area shot up from its original 530,000 to 700,000 square meters.

In 1981 a second construction plan, “Winterhude 7”, was introduced. Legally in force since 1985 and last amended in 1986, it is still valid today. It allowed for a higher density of buildings. The floor-space index was raised from 1,5 to 2,0 and finally 2,3, at the same time as the green areas of the properties were reduced from 35% to 25%. This changed the idea of a free standing building surrounded by greenery. However, functional usage and expansion possibilities still play an ever-present role.