From art project to living space

Developed by Berlin-based architectural practice Winking Froh Architekten, Belle Harbour comprises seventeen apartments, communal areas and a roof terrace, which are designed as areas for families and partially-sighted people to share together. The building structure of the residential tower is characterised by sculptured cut-outs that open up to generous balconies for the residents and, at the same time, emphasise the vertical effect of the building. The heart of the building is the enormous roof space with a garden and communal terrace. This is where the concept of inclusive, community-based living comes together: a place where people with and without visual impairments live together, supported by barrier-free planning, special orientation aids and complementary mobility and learning services.

Forming the foundation for the Belle Harbour project are the HafenCity Hamburg environmental label requirements, which span five categories and consider the recyclability and environmental impact of materials. “We take the requirements of HafenCity very seriously,” emphasises Dr Stephanie Gamm, Founder and Project Manager of Belle Harbour. “We consider every material in terms of its life cycle – from manufacture to the possibility of dismantling. Our aim is to avoid grey energy, reduce CO_₂ emissions and choose construction materials that can be separated and reused later on. This creates a house that is not only efficient in its operation but could become part of the material cycle itself one day.”

At the end of the architectural festival, the aluminium profiles were dismantled and sorted, then stored, checked and re-coated. Eventually, they were filtered back into the production process and turned into window frames by Geerds Metallbau. They then found their final destination in the Belle Harbour project. “The profiles were processed in the same way as new material,” explains Karl Geerds. “We noticed no differences in either production or assembly.” The quality inspection that was coordinated by Schüco as well as the coating manufacturer's report confirmed that the recovered profiles are fully usable. “This was a real pilot project for us,” added Geerds. “It shows that recycling is possible in the aluminium industry without any technical issues – and without a loss in quality too.”

Schüco considers this project an example of the future of construction: “Buildings are raw material stores. Everything that we have installed here will still be of value at the end of the building's lifetime,” highlights Jochen Strellmann, who is Head of Project Business in Hamburg. Thanks to state-of-the-art separating and sorting methods, aluminium windows can be almost completely recycled, with as much as 98% of materials fed back into the material cycle. “This temporary use of profiles supports the idea that buildings are raw material stores – and that this raw material is also a recyclable material, which can be reused at the end of its service life," summarises Strellmann.

Belle Harbour is setting new standards in a number of ways, including architecturally, socially and economically. The journey of these aluminium profiles – from the art installation through to their dismantling and reuse – is a prime example of a new approach to resources. True to the Hamburg Summer of Architecture motto of ‘Restructure’ for materials, architecture and cities, this temporary art project was transformed into a permanent building block for sustainable living.