The Außenalster is one of Hamburg's most cherished recreational areas, but it's also a busy waterway with its own traffic regulations. Motorized tour boats, water sports clubs and rental companies, plus an ever-growing number of recreational users in various vessels, create a dynamic environment that regularly generates hazardous situations. To address this critical need, the Außenalster Water Rescue Centre brings together fire brigades, the German Life Saving Association, the Technical Relief Service, the German Red Cross, and the Workers' Samaritan Federation—ensuring faster response times for people in distress.

Development on Alster properties is subject to strict protective guidelines to preserve the waterway's distinctive character and natural environment. The architects selected a municipal site at Harvestehuder Weg 1a, already serving the water police with existing jetty infrastructure supplemented by a slipway. Sibylle Kramer Architekten BDA's design extends into the basement of the 1950s building, minimizing new surface sealing and keeping the tree population and riverbank virtually untouched by construction.

The reinforced concrete structure efficiently accommodates all necessary functions within just 100 m². Facing the water, the weather-protected service room features floor-to-ceiling glazing and state-of-the-art monitoring technology, offering year-round visibility of all activity on the water. Support spaces—relaxation area, changing facilities, sanitary installations, and technical rooms—are tucked away on the street-facing side, ensuring privacy for patients receiving emergency care. Hand-formed clay tiles from Petersen Tegl create the design's primary visual language. The new building's purist clinker façade, with its distinctive red scaled bricks, echoes the material and palette of the existing structure while reinterpreting them with fresh perspective. The two buildings read as a unified composition, harmoniously balancing heritage with contemporary design.

www.kramer-architekten.de

Photography Credits:

Sibylle Kramer Architects BDA

(From CUBE Hamburg 03|22)