Parcel post office Altona, Hamburg

Protective undulating fortress

Konzept

The Altona parcel post office is located on the former site of the Kaltenkirchen railway station in the immediate vicinity of a main road. In order to protect the open space area from the noise of the heavy traffic and to express a clear signal in the urban space, the forecourt area itself has been set 4.60 m above the street level.

The actual access to the enclosed forecourt is marked by an old poplar solitaire in a gently upward sloping incision in the wall. The wall and the entire open space consist of an iridescent misfired clinker, later called OPD mixture. This red stone covering stretches like a carpet up to the buildings. A small area of water forms the centre of the square with cut Taxus solitaires and large plane leaves and fruits of cast aluminium under several shady plane trees, which mediate between the high-rise building and the visitors. The cut Taxus sculptures and the cast elements emphasize the art-in-architecture aspect of the entire design. A lowered seating recess and a circular bench give visitors the opportunity for encounter and exchange.