The project was presented to the public back in 2004: then it was decided to replace the office complex for media and IT companies with a new Philharmonic building, which was considered unprofitable due to the collapse of many Internet companies in the early 2000s. Like the business center before it, the cultural institution was planned to be erected on a brick warehouse built in 1966, located on the Elbe in the port of Hamburg.
The project struck the imagination of both the general public and the city authorities, and, despite its great complexity, already in 2007, they began to implement it. However, the project budget grew steadily, conflicts arose between the city enterprise engaged in the Philharmonic Society and the development company, the opening date was constantly postponed - even if we did not take into account the period when the construction stopped at all. In 2013, the project was "restructured", the division of responsibilities between the participants was clarified, and things went well - but then it became clear that the cost of the Philharmonic Society increased 10 times: from the originally planned 77 to 789 million euros. You can read more about this story in
a special material published in No. 35 of the PROJECT international magazine.
Thus, the long way to the opening of the Herzog & de Meuron building seems to be almost passed, and the "shore" is already quite visible: construction is being completed, in the summer and autumn of 2016 the Philharmonic will be handed over to the customer. What is this building, which first attracted everyone's attention with the originality of the architectural project, and then - an epic of conflicts, poor organization of the construction process, parliamentary investigations? As already mentioned, it is based on the Kaispeicher A brick warehouse for storing coffee beans, cocoa beans and tobacco (only the facades remain from it). It rested on 1,111 reinforced concrete piles driven into the bottom of the Elbe, to which another 650 were added during construction. It will house a parking lot for 500 cars, the smallest of the three concert halls (Kaistudio 1 for 170 spectators, intended for modern, experimental music), the center music education and technical rooms for the Philharmonic; and the spa and conference facilities of the hotel above.
Between the warehouse and the new part there is a Plaza accessible to all comers: an open terrace surrounds the foyer of the Grand and Concert Halls, the hotel lobby and a cafe along the perimeter. But the terrace is still the main part of this 4000 m2 public space: from there, from a height of 37 m, a circular panorama of Hamburg opens up. There are two escalators leading to the Plaza. The first one is laid along an 82-meter pipe, and it is slightly curved so that the end of the path is not visible at the start. Then, at the panoramic window, visitors transfer to a 20-meter escalator that takes them to their destination. The plaza will open before the rest of the building, in November 2016.
The main space of the Philharmonic is the Great Hall with 2,100 seats: its mass of 12.5 tons is supported by 362 spring mechanisms, which gives it the independence necessary for perfect acoustics from the rest of the building. Also, for the sake of acoustics, a special material was developed, "White Skin" - a mixture of gypsum and recycled paper: the walls of the hall were sheathed with 10,000 panels of it. These panels are made on a digitally controlled machine, and their shape and dimensions are calculated to the millimeter, and therefore the surface of the walls of 6.5 thousand m2 will seem solid. "White skin" not only plays an acoustic and aesthetic role, but also has a high resistance to fire and wear, according to its creators - architects Herzog & de Meuron and renowned acoustics specialist Yasuhisa Toyota. The layout of the hall is terraced, with a stage in the center - like at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall of Hans Scharoun. The second hall, the Concert Hall for 550 spectators, is also isolated with 56 spring mechanisms; it is designed as a more traditional "box".
The glass façade of the Philharmonic consists of 1,100 glass panels, almost each with its own size and degree of curvature; to protect the interior from overheating, the panels are covered with dark gray fritted dots. Gill-shaped slits mark the location of the foyer and hotel rooms, and the horseshoe-shaped niches on the west side hide the balconies of 45 apartments.
The Elbe Philharmonic will be the home stage for the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra (NDR), and the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra will also regularly perform there.
