The Danish architecture firm ADEPT has been commissioned by the municipal real estate developer Sprinkenhof to build a 34,000 square meter administration building made of wood. We present the design here.

The Danish architecture firm ADEPT has been commissioned by the municipal real estate developer Sprinkenhof to build a 34,000 square meter administration building made of wood. It will be Germany’s largest timber building. We present the design here.

Wandsbeck: this is the name of the district in the east of Hamburg where the new timber building is to be built by 2026, and it is also the name chosen by the colleagues at Adept for their huge wooden project. After its completion, the Wandsbek district office will move into the building, which will then be the largest wooden building in Germany, and plans to set up a service center for the Social Affairs, Youth and Health Department in addition to offices for 700 to 800 employees.

The elongated property between Wandsbeker Zollstrasse and Rüterstrasse is currently part parking lot and part fenced-off wasteland. Adept’s plans envisage a voluminous block covering an area of 3.4 hectares. The building thus covers almost the entire length of the site. The building is segmented into eight sub-volumes through indentations, recesses and the use of different façade themes. This makes the oversized block appear smaller.

Visualizations: ADEPT

On the western narrow side of what will be Germany’s largest timber building, there is a fully greened façade next to the main entrance to the district administration. The window fronts on the other sides of the façade will be broken up by green leeches and, of course, green roofs are also part of the concept for the new Wandsbek.

In addition to its function as an administrative building, the Wandsbek is therefore set to become a showcase project for modern timber construction. Hamburg has been promoting building with wood since 2017, and since then kindergartens, sports clubs and workshops in particular have been built with an increased proportion of wood in the city. With the Roots, previously known as the “Wildspitze”, work has been underway in Hamburg’s HafenCity since the end of 2020 on another timber building that is set to break yet another superlative. With 19 storeys and a height of around 65 meters, Roots will be Germany’s tallest timber building when it is finished.

Fancy more news from the port city? Find out more about the redesign plans for Altona station here.