ARCHELLO YOUR CONNECTION WITH ARCHITECTURE

The Empire Riverside Hotel and the “Brauhaus”, an office and business complex, is located in the centre of Hamburg on industrial land formerly occupied by the Bavaria brewery. The buildings lie between two widely divergent areas of the city: to the east are striking townhouses, commercial buildings and banks, and to the north and west, provincial St Pauli with its preponderance of four- and five-storey buildings built in the 19th century. Both the facade and the interior were designed by Berlin-based David Chipperfield Architects.The building complex is made up of three structures: The 327-room hotel consists of a tower over an L-shaped low-rise section which is adjacent to the “Brauhaus”. The space between the Brauhaus and the low-rise part of the hotel leads into the St. Pauli district and provides access to the city from the former industrial area. The three structures convey the transition between the different areas of the city. The eaves of the low-rise section of the hotel and the “Brauhaus” reflect those of the historical buildings whilst the slim 21-storey tower is the jewel in the crown that is the new port of Hamburg.

The hotel building is divided into a publicly accessible and a private area. The public area with conference rooms, a restaurant, a breakfast room, a ballroom and a lounge positioned around a four-storey high reception lobby is in the low-rise section. There is also a bar open to the public on the 20th floor. The 17 floors in the high-rise section constitute the private area.

David Chipperfield designed a large part of the interior with HI-MACS® acrylic stone. This is a mineral-based material made up of 70% natural stone powder, approximately 25% high-quality acrylic resin and around 5% natural pigments. It was developed and manufactured by the world’s leading company in this sector, LG HAUSYS or LG HAUSYS EUROPE based in Geneva in Switzerland.

It is an environmentally-friendly, high-quality product that thanks to its versatility is being used increasingly by architects and designers today. With its non-porous surface, HI-MACS ® is smooth, hygienic and low-maintenance. It is also stain and heat resistant. Through the acrylic resin it acquires a translucent beauty and a modern appearance.
HI-MACS® has two major features: it is totally impermeable to water and it is highly durable. The material is so robust that its colour neither fades nor peels off.
The materials for the hotel rooms, like that for the facade, have been chosen to age gracefully. Smoked oak wall panels and dark bitumen terrazzo flooring interact with the vibrant structure of the bronze facade. Traditional Chesterfield furniture reflects the understated Anglo-Saxon style typical of Hamburg and at the same time, the carefully selected colours of the leather-clad upholstery make a subtle statement. In the bathroom area, the clean lines continue with washstands made of HI-MACS®. Using cutting-edge technology it is possible to create and craft the most elegant designs in HI-MACS®, delivering integrated products and styling that are join-free and harmonious in appearance.
The uniform filigree structure of the facade draws the sculptural features of the building complex into a unified whole whilst emphasising its vertical lines. The colour and material properties of its pre-fabricated architectural bronze cladding blend with the patina of the largely red brick and copper structures of the “harbour crown”.