Coffee Plaza HafenCity, NKG Hamburg Headquarters Project, German Offices Design, HQ Picture
Coffee Plaza HafenCity, Hamburg
Coffee Plaza, Hamburg, Germany – HafenCity Building by Richard Meier & Partners Architects
21 Oct 2010
Neumann Kaffee Gruppe Headquarters Building
Date built: 2010
Richard Meier & Partners Architects LLP
Richard Meier & Partners Architects Wins American Architecture Award for Coffee Plaza
photo : Klaus Frahm, courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners
Coffee Plaza Hamburg
New York, August 30, 2011 – Richard Meier & Partners Architects has been awarded the American Architecture Award 2011 for Coffee Plaza in Hamburg, Germany.
The American Architectural Awards is one of the most prestigious building awards program in the United States that honors “new and cutting-edge design”. This annual program is organized by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Center for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies to promote the best of new architecture and urban design.
photo : Klaus Frahm, courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners
The Coffee Plaza in Hamburg’s HafenCity is planned as a unique center for international coffee commerce and related lines of business. The project encompasses the design of the headquarters for one of the largest coffee trading companies worldwide and two office buildings with rentable areas as well as a public plaza and underground parking. The site is part of the ambitious new Master plan to redevelop Hamburg’s post-industrial port into a viable business, commercial and cultural center and is currently the largest urban development project in Europe.
A number of innovative features were developed specifically for the tower. New mechanical systems and facades were carefully designed to minimize energy consumption while providing a working environment with natural ventilation and daylight; and vertical glass louvers were used on the south and west elevations that rotate with the sun providing shade and minimizing heat gain.
photo : Klaus Frahm, courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners
The relationship of the buildings to the urban context is of vital importance. The complex and plaza form a sculptural border to the development’s expansive open spaces, and the three buildings rise from the elevated plaza and delineate the city block, giving a sense of place and community to the area.
In October 2011, The Chicago Atheneaum, together with The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies will present a special exhibition of all awarded buildings at an annual symposium, “The City and the World” in Buenos Aires and in conjunction with the 13th International Architecture Biennial. After the symposium, the exhibition will travel through Europe.
Coffee Plaza HafenCity images / information from Richard Meier & Partners Architects
Coffee Plaza HafenCity
Neumann Kaffee Gruppe Headquarters, Hamburg
2010
Richard Meier & Partners Architects LLP
NEW RICHARD MEIER BUILDING ENHANCES HAFENCITY SKYLINE
Neumann Kaffee Gruppe Headquarters Become New Anchor in Port
New York, NY – October 28, 2010 _ New York based architects Richard Meier & Partners are pleased to announce the opening of the new corporate headquarters for Neumann Kaffee Gruppe (NKG), the world’s largest green coffee service group located in Hamburg’s booming HafenCity. The site is part of the ambitious new Masterplan to redevelop the post-industrial port into a viable business, commercial and cultural center and as such the largest urban development project in Europe. Situated on a podium of prime real-estate overlooking the Sandtorpark, various harbor basins and Hamburg’s traditional skyline, the new 12-story glass tower, aptly called Coffee Plaza, acts as an anchor in Hamburg’s refurbished harbor. The site also includes two adjacent office buildings and a large public plaza.
photos : Klaus Frahm, courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners
Before the recent move, the Hamburg companies of Neumann Kaffee Gruppe had occupied their offices at the traditional nearby Sandtorkai address for over 55 years. With the revitalization of the port, Michael R. Neumann, the group’s founder andChairman, felt it was time for a new modern headquarters to be developed by an iconic modern architect. “Coffee recently has undergone huge cultural changes from the traditional black filter coffee to the lifestyle of dozens of innovative young and dynamic fun products,” says Michael Neumann.
“I wanted to offer green coffee an attractive new marketplace – away from the age-old red brick – architecturally outstanding, transparent and modern. An interesting building in the new HafenCity next to the historic Speicherstadt warehouse complex was the ideal setting and Richard Meier was an outstanding choice as an architect for this task.” And David M. Neumann, speaker of Neumann Gruppe’s Board of Management, is confident: “The new location gives a vital impulse to the entire Neumann Kaffee Gruppe, strengthening the position of the Group as worldwide leader of green coffee services and to Hamburg as a coffee trading hub.”
The 8,000 sq meters tower has some of the trademark RMP features including the white and glass façade and light-filled atrium and office space. The elliptical tower is made up of eleven floors of office space and an additional penthouse level, labeled as a “sculptural roofscape” with conference rooms. The ground floor which also offers a spectacular view, will house an elegant restaurant. The tower property includes three subterranean levels designated for parking and technical spaces. Framing the plaza, two additional structures complete the ensemble, each approximately 5000 sq meters, both comprised of six floors, a roof terrace, underground parking and ground floor retail space. The building also displays a collection of large-scale sculpture and paintings, the most striking example being the world’s largest coffee bean as a modern bronze.
A number of innovative features were developed specifically for the tower. In addition to strict municipal zoning and sustainability requirements, RMP and NKG wanted to go above and beyond in the construction of this new green building. New mechanical systems and facades were carefully designed to minimize energy consumption while providing a working environment with natural ventilation and daylight; and vertical glass louvers were used on the south and west elevations that rotate with the sun providing shade and minimizing heat gain.
“This building is a great achievement, both technically and aesthetically, and we feel it stands apart as a classic modern structure on the newly redesigned waterfront,” said Richard Meier. “We are extremely pleased with the collaboration between RMP and NKG, who proved to be excellent clients and partners in this venture.”
“We are grateful for the support we received from the planning authorities in Hamburg,” adds RMP design partner and project architect Bernhard Karpf. “And we are very proud to be part of the new urban revitalization taking place in HafenCity.”
Neumann Kaffee Gruppe
Neumann Kaffee Gruppe (NKG) is the leading green coffee service group worldwide with more than 48 companies in 29 countries. It employs 2,100 highly skilled permanent staff and numerous seasonal laborers each year. Neumann Gruppe GmbH, located in Hamburg, directs and coordinates the different activities of the group. With its operative companies NKG is present in all important markets worldwide. Through their export companies, NKG has direct access to the entire world’s coffee production. At the same time, the group serves almost all-consuming markets through its trade companies, both in exporting and importing countries.
Operative companies are active in the business fields of coffee farming, farm management, processing, exporting, importing, shipping, quality control, warehousing, reprocessing, specialties, soluble products, blending and distribution of green coffee. Further independently organized services of the Group are: commodity futures brokerage; logistics; green coffee processing, i.e. decaffeination, vaporization and steaming; market information; as well as coffee commercial education.
For several decades, Neumann Kaffee Gruppe has been an active partner for local communities in places where it operates. Cooperation goes far beyond purely commercial relationships, and contributes to improving the livelihoods of producers and their families. To further focus the efforts in this important field and as a long-term commitment Michael R. Neumann and Neumann Gruppe set up “Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung” in 2005.
This non-profit foundation has become one of the leaders towards a more sustainable coffee economy and preservation of natural resources through development projects and other dedicated activities.
Richard Meier & Partners
For over four decades, Richard Meier & Partners has been appointed to create important public and private buildings. Led by the Pritzker-Prize winning architect, projects have received 30 National Honor Awards from the American Institute of Architects and over 50 from the New York AIA and other regional chapters. The firm is well known for the The Getty Center in Los Angeles, Federal Courthouses on Long Island and in Phoenix, the Jubilee Church in Rome, and the iconic Charles and Perry Street Towers in New York City.
RMP has also produced office buildings in the United States and across Europe for companies like Canal+, Siemens, KNP, Daimler Benz, Olivetti, Renault, and SwissAir; and have built almost 20 museums, including the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art and The Burda and Arp Museums in Germany. We currently have projects underway in the US, Central America, Europe, and Asia, as well as a large residential tower in the heart of Tel Aviv, Israel. Most recently we have been awarded the Edie & Lew Wasserman Eye Research Center at UCLA in California.
Richard Meier & Partners have completed 14 buildings in Germany, including three art museums (The Frankfurt Museum for the Decorative Arts, The Burda Museum and The Arp Museum) and a dozen public and private projects including Siemens’s World Headquarters, the Daimler-Benz Research Center and the Ulm Stadthaus Exhibition & Assembly Building.
Coffee Plaza, HafenCity images / information from Richard Meier & Partners Architects
Location: Coffee Plaza, HafenCity, Hamburg, Germany
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