At some point, your own kitchen and apartment simply aren't enough. Many food start-ups lack a dedicated space where they can develop and test ideas, collaborate with peers, and welcome guests. That's why Christin Siegemund created the "foodlab"—a creative hub purpose-built for culinary entrepreneurs. It features a co-working area tailored to their unique needs, kitchen facilities for testing and producing innovations, a studio for photography and events, plus a café and pop-up restaurant space that showcases a fresh concept every four weeks. It's a gathering place for food professionals and enthusiasts alike.

The search for the perfect location began in 2018. Heyroth & Kürbitz architects joined Siegemund in scouting rental spaces, helping evaluate whether each site could accommodate the envisioned program. With a stroke of luck, they soon discovered an ideal home for the Foodlab: the striking white Watermark tower in HafenCity, positioned at the tip of Buenos Aires Quay near HafenCity University. The setting itself is remarkable—a waterfront promenade where visitors can stroll, rest on broad steps, and feel the harbor breeze. This spatial sequence of stairs, plaza, and promenade extends into the building's interior, where an impressively soaring glass hall becomes the Foodlab's beating heart. From the restaurant, café, and co-working areas, guests enjoy commanding harbor views in every season.

Under one roof, the Foodlab brings together café, restaurant, co-working space, kitchen, and photo studio—an unusually diverse program unified by connection to the soaring glass hall where food professionals and their guests converge. The restaurant occupies the promenade level, while the café sits above. These spaces reveal their true purpose: a working laboratory where ideas take shape, flavors are tested, conversations unfold, and meals are savored. The architects deliberately kept the interior raw and unadorned—partitions remain transparent, fixtures refined but understated. The energy comes from those who use it. To project the Foodlab's vibrant character outward and create a distinctive identity, 1,000 felt objects hang from the hall's ceiling, evoking floating napkins or windswept sails. They serve as visual landmarks, enhance the room's magic, and improve acoustics. The Foodlab team folded and suspended each piece themselves in a spirited, well-coordinated collective effort.

www.heyroth-kuerbitz.de
www.foodlab.hamburg

Photography Credits:

Vivi D'Angelo
www.vividangelo.com

Steffen Borowski

(Published in CUBE Hamburg 02|21)