Micro-apartment complex HAR6, Hamburg

PORR Building Construction North Region was commissioned to carry out the extended structural work for the “HAR6” project in Hamburg-Harburg. The new construction project will replace a run-down shopping centre that has stood unused for a long time. The building offers approximately 2,280m² of usable space for commercial units on the ground floor and around 8,400m² for micro-apartments and residential units on the upper floors. Around 2,970m² of the total 20,570m² GFA will be used for underground parking in the basement.

A working-class harbour district becomes a high-tech hub

Following Hamburg’s example, the old Harburg harbour facilities were repurposed and converted. Channel Hamburg is the second major urban development project in Hamburg after HafenCity. Harburg city centre is also being revitalised in the process, as the former working-class district is becoming increasingly attractive as a residential and working district. Several hundred technology and science-oriented companies have established themselves around the Technical University of Hamburg, and micro-apartments are in high demand among students and young professionals. Project developer BPD received widespread approval for its plan to create predominantly residential spaces on the approximately 3,220m² site of the derelict Harburg Center.

The residential and commercial complex “HAR6” will house 203 micro-apartments and 31 residential units on a floor area of approximately 8,400m². The building, which was designed by Schenk + Waiblinger, is located in a prominent position between Harburg town hall and the railway station. When the construction work has been completed, a flight of steps will lead directly to the Seevepassage pedestrian zone.

Working in cooperation with the employer and the PORR competence teams

Although the complex has 12 storeys at its highest point, the variable heights and loosely structured building units mean that it has none of the bulkiness of the Harburg Center. With its clinker facades facing the street, it blends harmoniously into its surroundings. “The client particularly appreciated our intensive engagement with the project and the way we approached it as a whole”, explains Björn Motzkus, technical branch manager at PORR Building Construction North Region. They were also impressed by the collaborative approach to working with clients and sister companies from the PORR Group. In this particular case, PORR Equipment Services’ site logistics expertise was required to cope with the cramped inner-city location of the construction site, as were the concrete technology experts from PORR’s Düsseldorf branch.