New work environment at Rainvilleterrasse Campus

gmp Architekten, which operates worldwide, has expanded their office space on the site of the old Hamburg Nautical College and added an elegant solution for the high ceiling with Troldtekt acoustic panels.

In his day, Adjutant César Lubin Claude de Rainville opened the Hanseatic city’s first restaurant on the ground floor of the building on Rainvilleterrasse, having bought and converted the former residential building on the banks of the Elbe in 1799. In the 1930s, the Altona Maritime School was built on the site, based on designs by the architect Hans Meyer, which later merged with the Hamburg Nautical College and eventually closed down in 2005. The listed building, constructed in the style of the Neues Bauen movement, is an icon on the Altona coastline. It is an oblong, cubic structure divided into four storeys by ribbon windows, with cantilevered balconies on the eastern side.

Conversion to Rainvilleterrasse Campus

The gmp Foundation gently renovated and modernised the building over several years to create the Rainvilleterrasse Campus. It houses the Academy for Architectural Culture (aac), the Brand Academy and the Design Factory International.

For the past five years, gmp Architekten, whose original head office is in Hamburg, have rented space on the third floor of the old Maritime School. Parts of the former restaurant business on the ground floor were recently converted into additional office space and a staff restaurant.

Less is more

The designers focused on a few materials that they deployed strategically for the conversion. The result of combining the listed historical parquet flooring with reduced, uncluttered furnishings is a uniquely bright, spacious and multifunctional office space. As the space spans 160 square metres, acoustics were a top priority. To this end, the designers opted for a simple yet extremely sophisticated solution for the high ceilings: Troldtekt line acoustic panels.

Project: Neue Arbeitswelt am Campus

Rainvilleterrasse, Germany

Architect: gmp Architekten von Gerkan, Marg und Partner; Hamburg

Builder: gmp Architekten von Gerkan, Marg und Partner; Hamburg

Design solution: Troldtekt line