Elbe-Werkstätten, Hamburg

The Elbe-Werkstätten offer people with disabilities a wide range of vocational training and work opportunities in all districts of Hamburg. The holistic refurbishment, including the technical facilities during ongoing operations and taking into account the special features of the workshops for the disabled, was the particular challenge of this building project.

Project data

Place: Nymphenweg 22, 21077 Hamburg
Builder: Elbe-Werkstätten GmbH
Planning: 2018 – 2021
Construction time: 2019 – 2021
Costs: 8.066.000 €
Total Area: 8.840 m²
Photograph: rimpf Architektur & Generalplanung

Elbe-Werkstätten’s largest location in Hamburg

The Nymphenweg site, the largest in terms of numbers, has been in existence since 1976 and employs 350 people with disabilities as well as 50 carers and administrative staff. The head office and the canteen kitchen, which also supplies other locations, are also located here.

The three-storey building is terraced on one side and follows the rising terrain.

Level 1 houses workshops and warehouses, which enable goods to be delivered via truck loading ramps. The main entrance is located on level 2, which is reached at ground level through the rising terrain. This is where the administrative offices, the IT service area, training rooms and the canteen kitchen with a restaurant are located. Level 3 houses woodworking workshops, a sewing shop and various production and packaging departments.

Deficiencies in structural and technical fire protection

Deficiencies in structural and technical fire protection were also to be rectified as part of the conversion and renovation measures. The main issues here were the lack of fire compartmentation, non-existent fire flashover areas on terraced roofs in front of facades, as well as inadequate or non-existent opening closures and technical installations. Statically and structurally, it was not possible to separate walls from fire walls and roof areas made of trapezoidal sheet metal on walls or to reinforce them with fire-resistant ceilings on the underside. Structural substitutes with fire-resistant ceiling strips on both sides of newly formed fire-fighting sections were not accepted by the building inspection authority.
  • Elbe-Werkstätten in Hamburg, Betriebstätte für Menschen mit Behinderung
  • Elbe-Werkstätten in Hamburg, Betriebstätte für Menschen mit Behinderung
  • Elbe-Werkstätten in Hamburg, Betriebstätte für Menschen mit Behinderung
  • Elbe-Werkstätten in Hamburg, Betriebstätte für Menschen mit Behinderung
  • Elbe-Werkstätten in Hamburg, Betriebstätte für Menschen mit Behinderung, Brnadschutzsanierung
  • Elbe-Werkstätten in Hamburg, Betriebstätte für Menschen mit Behinderung, Branadschutzsanierung Flur
  • Elbe-Werkstätten in Hamburg, Betriebstätte für Menschen mit Behinderung
  • Elbe-Werkstätten in Hamburg, Betriebstätte für Menschen mit Behinderung, Branadschutzsanierung Flur
  • Eingangsbereich der Elbe-Werkstätten in Hamburg, Betriebstätte für Menschen mit Behinderung, Branadschutzsanierung
  • Elbe-Werkstätten in Hamburg, Betriebstätte für Menschen mit Behinderung, Großküche
  • Elbe-Werkstätten in Hamburg, Betriebstätte für Menschen mit Behinderung, Großküche
  • Elbe-Werkstätten in Hamburg, Betriebstätte für Menschen mit Behinderung, Großküche
  • Elbe-Werkstätten in Hamburg, Betriebstätte für Menschen mit Behinderung, Großküche
  • Elbe-Werkstätten in Hamburg, Betriebstätte für Menschen mit Behinderung, Großküche
  • Elbe-Werkstätten in Hamburg, Betriebstätte für Menschen mit Behinderung, Großküche
  • Elbe-Werkstätten in Hamburg, Betriebstätte für Menschen mit Behinderung, Großküche

Innovative high-pressure water mist extinguishing system

As the general planner, we therefore proposed a high-pressure water mist extinguishing system as a substitute for all existing design measures that could not be implemented in accordance with the approval. This system was designed and implemented by our building services department. The advantage of this system is the low water content for the necessary fogging combined with a small water supply. At the client’s request, we planned and built the necessary UPS system as an emergency power system with renewal of the main distribution board.

In a total of eight construction phases, the entire building was renovated and converted section by section within 24 months. In addition, the roofs were renewed with non-combustible insulation and individual facades were renovated.  In a ninth section, the canteen kitchen was completely renovated structurally and equipped with a ventilated ceiling and a new ventilation system. The work was completed within budget and on schedule.