Master plan    SPORTS PARK  - PLAZA    Volkspark, Hamburg

Report   2007

"As the heart of the Volkspark, the plaza is intended, on one hand, to act as a factotum in rounding off and binding the arenas together in their function and utilisation and, on the other, to develop its own effect as a central square for communication, information and events ."

This assignment, formulated by the Hamburg municipal authorities, clearly expresses what the new plaza has to achieve. The 'no-man's-land' between the ColorLineArena and the Volkspark Stadium is to assume an urban character with a form that encourages people to tarry within its precincts.

Both large volumes of the arenas will continue to dominate the scenery in future. In this respect, as an urban extension, the plaza has to have its own character and emphasise its formal independence with a clear gesture. This will be achieved with a long rectangular plaza or ‚piste'. Its extent is will be limited on the eastern as well as the western side by a superstructure. Both the gate-house and the parking tower will determine the beginning and the end of the urban space and at the same time form a spanning arch within which sporting activities and other events can take place.

On the western side, the piste stretches into the landscape to a land base. The concentration of the volume of the construction ensures that only a fraction of the green space has to be taken up by the buildings. In this way, the experience of the landscape will only be reduced minimally. Additionally, the parking tower, with its distinctive, sculptural and angular form, sets the scene for the prospect from the piste into  Bornmoor Park. Urban space and natural landscape enter here into a mutual relationship. In order for the plaza to achieve a noticeable spatial effect, it is to be roofed over. This will generate a new dimension and form an open foyer for both arenas.

The sports plinth will be erected on the southern side of the stadium. An inclined plane will be added to this from the upper edge of the wall down as far as the edge of the woods. The plateau is to be underpinned by a park panoply. Large portals will enable the parking space area to become an open garage needing no complicated technical installations.
An artificial landscape will be created in the transitional area between stadium and park landscape. The upper surface of the sports plinth will be formed into an artificial sports landscape. Various pavements at ground level, sports fields, stepped seating or square beds of flowers invite the visitors to take part in sporting activities or simply spend time just being there.
Realising the ‚active' concept of a ‚sports plinth' will create an additional benefit that can contribute effectively to the corporate identity of the sports park as a whole.