Work Life Center, Mittelbau

The Work Life Center was one of the most demanding revitalisation projects in Hamburg. The large central building, with a floor area of around 14,000 m², is made up of the three-storey structure from 1887, a two-storey structure that was built in the 1920s and the generously glazed Semper Hall, which connects the two.

The facade and two interior stair towers are the only remnants of the original building; the interior was gutted completely.

The old division of the storeys has disappeared entirely. A two-level underground parking garage, with 90 parking spaces, was built, along with a new seven-storey, above-ground structure. The gross surface area today is 19,300 m², and the gross volume is 77,261 m³.

The planning required a brilliant balance between maximum quality and quantity of the rooms; the position of the Work Life Center is one of the most lucrative in Hamburg. The ground floor and the first floor serve as a cohesive exhibition and commercial area, and the upper floors are used as office space.

For the construction of this building, two of the Cobiax product lines were used; the varying depths of the slabs and the areas that it was possible to span as a result, required flexibility in terms of the architectural and structure planning challenges.