New prevention center for BGW and VBG in Hamburg’s HafenCity

After a two-stage competition and subsequent negotiations the matter is settled: Auer Weber will design the prevention center for VBG (social accident insurance institution for the administrative sector) and BGW (for non-state institutions in the health and welfare service sectors). It will furnish Hamburg’s HafenCity with another prominent building stone at its eastern end: standing immediately next to Freihafenelbbrücke bridge, this building for professional training will act as a new gateway to the city for people coming from the south by train.

The tower and the base are conceived as one piece of design, united by a tightly structured mineral façade and forming a monolithic grand sculpture in several warm hues of brick. Two axes structure the building and relate it to its immediate surroundings: the “access band” from east to west on entry level, connecting the two entrances on Baakenwerder Straße and the emerging Elbbrücken station respectively, in the shape of a large foyer, and the “experience band” from north to south, which takes on the form of a large stairwell sculpture stretching from the public exhibition level on the second floor all the way down to wharf level, establishing a relation to the water.