A sculpture-like flying roof and an extraordinary entrance in HI-MACS® for Hanse Merkur
Architects Wasfy Taha
and Fionn Mögel from Querkopf-Architekten were assigned with the task to create a
new face for Hanse
Merkur company in
Hamburg.
What the architects found at the
existing building near the Dammtor train station was an
inconsistent "architectural mix".
The offices of this traditional
company are located in the historic old building "Haus Wedells",
which consists of a structure from the 90s and a glass atrium. An
extended entrance hall was used to create the link between the
different eras, while making a dramatic architectural
statement.
The architects from
Querkopf-Architekten decided to devise the entrance as a sculpture,
architecturally merging the "past" and the "present" into the
"future". This is not only reflected in the futuristic design but
also in the chosen material: the New Generation HI-MACS® solid
surface material.
The architects deliberately
thought "outside the box" and designed the entrance hall as an
expressive continuation of the glass atrium into the urban space.
The basic shape of the entrance is a rectangular pavilion with a
six metre continuous glass façade and a full glass ceiling
stretching over six metres without any supports. There are no
pillars inside the structure; steel beams are used to transfer the
load to the façade mullions. The construction process was
complicated, as an underground car park had to be taken into
consideration in the structural analysis.
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