New residential building in Hamburg’s HafenCity: Ceramic elements and variable floor plans in focus

Commissioned by a joint venture with keen sporting interests, Spine Architects designed the Sportlerhaus as an eight-storey residential building with commercial units in Hamburg’s Baakenhafen neighbourhood. The new-build combines living, working and community spaces – and translates the team play design theme both into the organisation of the floor plans and the architectural appearance of the building.

The angular structure responds to its distinctive dual setting between the waterfront and the street. It forms a clear building line bordering Gretchen-Wohlwill-Platz, while also enclosing a private green space and play area that faces the Baakenhafen basin.

The façade is a contemporary reinterpretation of Hamburg’s brick slip tradition. Instead of classic brickwork, three-dimensional, glazed building ceramics (StoCera) are used, arranged in a cross-joint pattern. Depending on the time of day, season and the angle of the sunlight, the façade shifts from light grey to white to shimmering, glittering surfaces with a warm, golden glow at sunset – an effect particularly evident on the inclined ceramic profiles of the upper floors.

Thanks to the precision of the construction – continuous joint alignment, seamlessly integrated window reveals and lintels, butt-jointed external corners, and concealed expansion joints – the result is a uniform and highly refined façade appearance. The composite thermal insulation system (StoTherm Mineral) applied over the reinforced concrete and sand-lime brick structure serves as the substrate for the continuous ceramic finish.

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Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:17 Die baugruppe
01:07 Winning design
02:50 Floor plan and appearance
04:31 Wall construction
06:05 Material and pattern
08:09 Zero-tolerance building
09:50 Invisible expansion joints
10:44 Conclusion

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More project information:
Building owner: Sportlerhaus GbR, Hamburg
Architecture: Spine Architects, Hamburg
Location: Wallstrasse 49–51, Hamburg
Sto proficiency: Composite thermal insulation system (StoTherm Mineral), Plastic building ceramics (StoCera)
Specialised trade: STRABAG AG, Northern Directorate – New Construction & Renovation, Hamburg
Photo: Jochen Stüber, Martin Kunze

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