Southern Überseequartier Hamburg
Integrative Masterplan for a Vibrant Urban Quarter
The Southern Überseequartier sees itself as a response to the question of how urban space must function today in order to seamlessly combine diverse uses, mobility, and social interaction. As integrative masterplanner, the task was to coordinate fourteen buildings, numerous clusters of use and the requirements of a new urban centre within HafenCity in such a way that a coherent, lively and spatially integrated quarter would emerge.
40 per cent expansion of Hamburg’s city centre through the development of HafenCity: the Southern Überseequartier forms the commercial counterpart to Hamburg’s inner city within the port
Mixed-use quarter for working and living, with cultural and leisure facilities as well as gastronomy, retail and a cruise terminal
14 buildings with a total of approx. 48,000 m² of office space, 820 hotel rooms, 550 residential units, 170 shops, restaurants and cafés, and 2,280 seats in a multiplex cinema
10 architectural practices were involved in the planning; as integrative masterplanner, HPP brought all planning tasks together into a cohesive urban whole
Comprehensive sustainability certifications, including one of the first large-scale projects with DGNB certification for sustainable construction sites
With the development of HafenCity, Hamburg’s city centre is expanding by a historically unprecedented 40 per cent. This process is reshaping the city both spatially and functionally. The Southern Überseequartier forms the central building block of this transformation. As the commercial centre of HafenCity, it positions itself between the Elbe, the Speicherstadt and the inner city. It connects these layers through routes, visual axes and a dense mix of uses, creating a public realm that attracts visitors while also establishing a new centre of daily life for residents.
The Southern Überseequartier brings together a wide range of uses within a closely interwoven urban structure. Residential, office, retail, gastronomy, cultural, and leisure uses, as well as the cruise terminal, are spatially interlinked and generate continuous activation of the public realm. This functional interconnection supports short distances in the sense of a “15‑minute city”, strengthens social interaction and turns the quarter into a lively place that is actively used throughout the entire day.
The location on the Elbe defines the character of the quarter. Public routes lead to the water, squares open towards the harbour, and the mix of maritime atmosphere, cultural facilities, and urban density creates a diverse and lively environment. The cruise terminal further strengthens the site’s international significance and turns the quarter into a place that welcomes guests from all over the world. Shopping, culture, leisure, and harbour flair merge into a new address within Hamburg’s urban landscape.
The Überseeboulevard forms the central spatial connection of the quarter. As a continuous axis, it leads from the inner city to the Elbe and makes the various uses within the quarter immediately tangible.
Its clear sequence of public and semi-public spaces links the buildings and provides clear orientation within the dense mix of uses.
Three hotels are distributed across four buildings in the Southern Überseequartier. They are closely integrated into the urban structure and complement the mixed-use fabric with different offer levels, ranging from upscale to economy segments. Their location along public axes and squares creates a clear address and ensures direct connections to the Überseeboulevard, the underground station and the dense network of pedestrian and cycle routes. Through their position within the block structures, the hotels contribute to the activation of the ground-floor zones and take on important functions in spatial orientation within the quarter.
All buildings within the quarter are certified under BREEAM Communities and BREEAM Excellent New Construction. Most office buildings additionally hold DGNB Gold certification. The Southern Überseequartier is also among the first large-scale projects to receive DGNB certification for sustainable construction sites.
The Southern Überseequartier is a project of exceptional complexity: 14 buildings, more than ten planning offices and diverse clusters of use within a predefined urban design framework. HPP planned the entire quarter as Lead Designer from the outset and at an overarching level, was responsible for maintaining high design standards, guided the project through approval and implementation, and acted as a single point of contact for the client and the city.
As integrative masterplanner, HPP incorporated the different architectural qualities of the individually commissioned building components into the overall design. The masterplan structures the quarter through precisely defined spaces, routes and interfaces, and connects the various components into a clear, functional and spatially coherent whole. The result is a quarter that functions as a lively, integrated urban building block.
“As integrative masterplanners, we design entire quarters rather than placing individual buildings side by side. The sustainable impact of energetic, ecological and functional synergies is the central opportunity of this holistic approach.”
Jörn Hermann, Associate Partner, HPP
- Project
- Southern Überseequartier
- Location
- Hamburg
- Client
- Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
- GFA
- 420.000 m²
- Services
- Masterplanning, Lead Architect, urban coordination, integra-tive planning of all planning disciplines
- Completion
- 2024
- Uses
- Residential, office, hotel, retail, gastronomy, culture, leisure, cruise terminal
- Awards
- MAPIC Award “Best Urban Regeneration Project” (2025)
- Certifications
- All buildings BREEAM Communities and BREEAM Excellent New Construction; most office buildings additionally DGNB Gold; DGNB certification for sustainable construction sites
