Award winning artificial peninsula in Germany

Using sand from the River Elbe, Atelier Loidl have created a 1.6-hectare artificial peninsula as the new green centre of HafenCity in Hamburg, Germany.

Baakenpark was designed in 2012 but built last year, and this year won a Deutscher Landschaftsarchitektur Preis. It sits in the middle of the former harbour basin Baakenhafen, providing an atmospheric counterpart to its surrounds and visual point of reference in the harbour.

The project used sand from river Elbe to create the peninsula.

The park consists of several plateaus of different heights, with the 15-metre tall Himmelsberg forming a panoramic point. It includes a wild shoreline and green embankments that continue right up to the water’s edge. This allows it to provide for a variety of sport and recreation activities, with meadows, playgrounds, meeting points, and quieter, more isolated spaces.

A bridge links Versmannkai to Baakenpark, giving pedestrians and cyclists a direct link between the north and south of their new city quarter, while the peninsula is accessed by a circular path along the shoreline. 

The park’s design allows for a variety of different activities and moods.

The western plateau forms a meeting point at the entrance to the park. Known as an ‘island sofa’, it includes wooden seating, an artificial turf playing field, and Flotsam Playground with its many themed wooden boxes to encourage creative play.

Seated areas are near sub sites designed to encourage more active pursuits.

Baakenpark’s central plateau includes the northern embankment seating area, and panoramic views of the harbour basin and Versmannkai. It serves as a platform for small events, featuring a lawn and fruit trees, three ‘sky swings’, and a recessed area sheltered between trees with a range of athletic training equipment. A 100-metre running lane also extends into a neighbourhood that will soon include a school and kindergarten.

The eastern plateau helps users find different views of the city.

The eastern plateau has the pyramid-like mountain, Himmelsberg, rising in the east and forming the end of the park while also blending into the landscape of the peninsulas. A staircase cuts into the flat slope of the hill and provides a platform for people to take in the panoramic view of the Hamburg harbour.

All three plateaus are all laid out differently due to flood protection requirements.

The steel banks and stone promenades of the €15 million development have a spacious feel, and the way in which it caters to such a range of people has made it well worth the wait for residents of HafenCity.

The award winning design allows for a variety of different activities.

The steel banks and stone promenades of the €15 million development have a spacious feel, and the way in which it caters to such a range of people has made it well worth the wait for residents of HafenCity.