Working successfully in the Sophienterrassen
Modern offices at the ‘Campus am Mittelweg’
With their light-coloured façades, metal panels and many other details, the office buildings on Mittelweg blend well into the ensemble of the Sophienterrassen as well as into the ambience of Mittelweg. These references are, of course, anything but coincidental. ‘Some architects,’ says Carsten Roth, ‘dream of having their own signature style. I don't believe in that.’ Prof. Carsten Roth is one of Hamburg's most renowned architects and has repeatedly won major competitions in his home city. A visible example of his work in the city is the so-called Columbia Twins, twin buildings clad in copper-coloured panels on Große Elbstraße between Övelgönne and the Fischmarkt.
The ensemble directly behind them – the so-called Elbdeck, opened in 2014, with rental apartments, commercial space and offices – was also designed by his practice. For the architect, a connection to the place always matters more than a signature style, yet there is a common thread running through his buildings: elegance. ‘A difficult subject to pin down,’ he admits, referring to an essay by Georg Franck in the journal Merkur. And indeed, something like a definition can be found there: ‘Elegant is the theory that masters great complexity with astonishingly simple means; elegant is the proof that reduces a complicated operation to a concise sequence of refined steps.’
Roth has designed the office buildings on the Mittelweg campus to be elegant and, moreover, precisely suited to their location and surroundings. Unlike the long sides, the narrow sides of the offices are rendered in white, so that they blend seamlessly with the villa architecture. Strips of white render also extend into the main façades, which are otherwise dominated by metal and glass. There, the shimmering perforated metal sheets are particularly eye-catching. These, too, were designed specifically for the location. Their pattern replicates the shadows cast by the branches of the old trees on the site, and providing shade is also their function. The windows behind them can also be opened to ventilate the rooms. ‘Designing offices is actually a bread-and-butter job,’ says Carsten Roth. ‘That's because of the prescribed axis grid of 1.35 metres.’ This allows offices to be laid out 2.70 or 4.05 metres wide. However practical this format is, it also defines the degree of monotony in many large buildings. Carsten Roth, however, does not fall into this trap and breaks up the basic pattern. ‘The shading sheets cover part of the grid, creating two fixed-glazed panels next to them.’ In this way, the façade could be given a rhythm, which is further emphasised by the folds of the sheets. ‘After all, the historic villas also have projections and recesses,’ explains Roth. In office buildings, however, a façade with light and shadow is something of a rarity. Why is that? Carsten Roth knows the answer: smart investors first multiply a possible projection of thirty centimetres by the length of the façade and then by the number of storeys.
Modern and harmonious
Play with the magic of possibilities
This gives the office buildings projections and recesses like the historic villas in their neighbourhood. The result is an interplay of light and shadow that is never boring.
Park of Harmony
Timelessness and cosmopolitanism
With the ‘Park of Harmony’, which links up with a modern fountain at the ‘Villa Harmonie’, the Campus am Mittelweg also embraces the neighbouring building. A connection that the neighbours appreciate, too. Asian design forms and matching decorative pieces not only give this complex a cosmopolitan spirit, but also provide employees with moments of peace and contemplation. Tradition and a forward-looking outlook, in turn, find a harmonious balance in the different buildings and the spaces between them.
