Röbbek Four

With its housing development plan, the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg has made clear its housing policy objectives for the future. A common bottleneck for new housing construction is a lack of suitable land or uses that prevent it. The city of Hamburg has therefore actively launched the “Competition of Ideas” measure. This new procedure is aimed at idea providers who can make available areas that hold significant potential for new housing construction or densification of existing development.

WBRE entered this procedure with the old school in Hamburg Groß Flottbek. The school from 1881 had been vacant for several years. Together with Jo Landwehr from the architectural office LH Architekten, a concept was developed that is adapted to the surroundings. Groß Flottbek is a Hamburg district close to the city center with a village atmosphere. In the concept, twelve residential units were planned in the old school building, as well as seven townhouses and four villas in the schoolyard. The ensemble is completed by a boarding house with café. The Röbbekhof forms the central focal point. This concept convinced the city and thus prevailed over several other bidders. Now WBRE’s work began.

The property was designated for school use and had to be converted according to the concept. After several years and many city planning committee meetings, the appropriate building permit was available. WBRE not only implemented the planning, but also the marketing concept. After a corresponding demand analysis, the marketing was now developed for the corresponding target clientele. This included not only the placement on appropriate portals, but also the external presentation on the Internet and in a brochure. Of course, the buyer support with corresponding change management was also in the hands of WBRE.

The project development had several planning challenges. The property is located in the area of an earth subsidence. At a depth of approx. 200 m there is a salt dome in which leaching and thus subsidence can occur in this area. This challenge was solved statically. The new buildings were equipped with a second foundation level in the foundation area, which in the event of subsidence is brought back into alignment via hydraulic pumps.

In the old buildings, the structural stability of the existing building fabric was verified as part of the change of use. This necessitated costly re-foundation work and additional steel structures. The entire construction work was carried out on an individual basis.

With the completion of the boarding house as the last construction phase, WBRE provided all known services from project and construction management from the project idea to project financing. The most fascinating aspect of this project, however, was the fact that the original idea at the beginning of the project could also be realized with the individual purchasers.