The architectural firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has won a high-profile architectural qualification process for the new Hamburg State Opera building in HafenCity with a spectacular design. A jury consisting of representatives from the city, the Kühne Foundation and external experts unanimously voted in favour of the design yesterday. The design envisages an outstanding opera house with an inviting, accessible roof landscape that opens up on all sides to the Elbe and the city. The winning design will now be finalised over the next two years in close consultation with the foundation, the city and the Hamburg State Opera as the future user. At the end of this extended preliminary planning phase and a reliable cost estimate, the Kühne Foundation will make a final decision on the realisation of the new building. The planned location is Baakenhöft, directly on the banks of the Elbe in HafenCity.
Based on preliminary planning by theatre experts, the architectural qualification process was carried out by Hamburgische Staatsoper Projekt gGmbH.
The jury attests that the design by the Bjarke Ingels Group team is a well-considered concept and a convincing urban development approach. It is a "successful symbiosis of good conditions for an opera house and an exciting landmark for all Hamburg residents". The generous roof overhangs of the façade, which result in a cascade of elegant balconies, were praised as a special feature: "In effect, a spiral of roof gardens is created, planted with native trees, bushes and grasses and made available to the public as a place to relax. This allows visitors to walk completely around the opera house and enjoy views of the city, HafenCity and the harbour." The design becomes particularly iconic at night, when its sprawling "leaves" are illuminated from below, resembling a blossoming flower.
The architects are delighted to have won the qualification process.
Bjarke Ingels, founder and creative director, BIG: "The new Hamburg State Opera inhabits an island at the heart of HafenCity bookended by the vertical landmarks of Elbphilharmonie and Elbtower. The opera will appear like a landscape of concentric terraces – emanating like soundwaves from a central beating heart of music, expanding outward into the harbour like ripples on the surface of the sea.
The result is a three-dimensional public park open and accessible from all sides, with expansive views in all directions – to the old city and the new, to Lohse Park and the Industrial Port.
We are honoured to have been chosen to imagine this key puzzle piece of the transformation of Hamburg's Haven City, and we are deeply grateful to the Kühne Foundation for entrusting us with turning their generosity into the city's new epicentre for the performing arts.
Dr Peter Tschentscher, Hamburg's First Mayor: "The new State Opera House should offer the best conditions for art and culture and become a world-class opera house. The design presented today shows outstanding architecture that will shape the city skyline in HafenCity. With the new opera house, the Baakenhöft will become an attractive, extraordinary place for all Hamburg residents. I would like to thank the architectural firms for participating in the competition and the jury for selecting the winning design."
Klaus-Michael Kühne, President of the Board of Trustees of the Kühne Foundation: "My foundation wants to build a world-class opera house in Hamburg's HafenCity. We are delighted to be working with the renowned architectural firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) from Copenhagen on this project. Together with the City of Hamburg and the local State Opera, we want to create a unique venue for all opera lovers in Hamburg."
Dr Carsten Brosda, Senator for Culture and Media in Hamburg: "This is a really strong design that finally gives shape to a spectacular idea. BIG intertwines opera and park to create an attractive overall composition. We will rethink the Hamburg State Opera for the 21st century and create a spectacular venue for everyone. I am grateful to the Kühne Foundation for this unique opportunity and look forward to making it a reality."
Dr Jörg Dräger, Executive Director of the Kühne Foundation: "With BIG's design, the Kühne Foundation wants to realise an extraordinary building that blends harmoniously into HafenCity, enables excellent opera and creates an outstanding venue for Hamburg where the Elbe, the harbour, the city and culture can be experienced in equal measure. We are now entering the decisive planning phase, in which we must harmonise architecture, functionality and economic efficiency in such a way that we can make a positive implementation decision at the end of 2027."
Franz-Josef Höing, Chief Planning Director of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg: "The new opera house at the head of Baakenhafen impressively demonstrates what architecture can be in this special location: large-scale, open, cheerful, accessible, green, striking and yet without pathos. The building is equally visible from all sides, and the open spaces by the water promise the highest quality of stay."
Stefan Behnisch, Jury Chairman, Behnisch Architekten Partnerschaft mbB: "This competition, for such an outstanding and exciting task, once again demonstrated that such procedures for finding a design can offer a wide range of successful solutions. The participating firms did outstanding work, presented convincing solutions and tackled this difficult task with great commitment. After personal presentations by the firms, detailed examination and discussion, the jury was able to unanimously recommend the winning design to the client for further development."
Tobias Kratzer, Director of the Hamburg State Opera: "A building that opens up to the city in a full 360 degrees; a park that literally confronts the opera with the world and the world with the opera at every turn of its paths; and a silhouette that simply puts you in a good mood with its lightness – the design by the Bjarke Ingels Group embodies in its architectural form everything that we at the Hamburg State Opera stand for in our artistic programme! Barely 100 days into the job, I feel not only that I have arrived, but that I have been richly blessed. We are delighted! We are also looking forward to further developing the detailed plans together with the Kühne Foundation and the architects – for the benefit of our visitors and our employees."
Dr Andreas Kleinau, Chairman of the Management Board of HafenCity Hamburg GmbH: "This is what we wanted: an opera house that combines outstanding architecture on a publicly accessible site with inviting open spaces and diverse vegetation. This location makes the Elbe and HafenCity accessible to everyone. In future, the aim will be to integrate these wonderful public spaces even more closely into their immediate surroundings. We are happy to invite you to join us in this process."
In February 2025, the City of Hamburg and the Kühne Foundation agreed on a contract for the construction of a new world-class opera house on the Baakenhöft site. The plan is for HSO Projekt gGmbH to be responsible for the new building, in which, following approval by the City Parliament, the City of Hamburg and the Hamburg State Opera will also be involved alongside the Foundation. The city will also make the public areas around the new opera house accessible to everyone. The agreement stipulates that the city will contribute €147.5 million to the costs of constructing the opera house to cover location-specific additional costs, in particular for foundations and flood protection. This amount is capped. The foundation will cover the remaining costs for the construction of the new opera house. Upon completion, the building and the foundation's shares in the project company will be transferred to the city as a donation.
In September, the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg approved a printed document requesting the Hamburg Parliament's approval of the agreement. This is currently being debated by the Parliament.
The following internationally renowned architectural firms took part in the high-calibre building construction qualification process with an open space planning concept section, which was put out to tender by HSO Projekt gGmbH:
• BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, Copenhagen
• gmp international GmbH, Hamburg, with Diller Scofidio & Renfro,
New York
• Prof. Jörg Friedrich | Studio PFP GmbH, Hamburg
• Snøhetta, Oslo
• Sou Fujimoto, Tokyo/Paris
The jury included:
• Stefan Behnisch (jury chair), architect, Behnisch Architekten
Partnerschaft mbB;
• Dr Carsten Brosda, Senator for Culture and Media
• Dr Jörg Dräger, Exec. Director of the Board of Trustees of the Kühne Foundation
• Katharina Fegebank, Senator for the Environment, Climate, Energy and
Agriculture
• Karl Gerandt, Member of the Board of Trustees of the Kühne
Foundation
• Franz-Josef Höing, Chief Planning Director
• Dr Andreas Kleinau, Chairman of the Management Board of HafenCity
Hamburg GmbH
• Tobias Kratzer, Director of the Hamburg State Opera
• Dorte Mandrup, Architect, Dorte Mandrup A/S, Copenhagen
• Karen Pein, Senator for Urban Development and Housing
• Prof. Matthias Sauerbruch, Architect, Sauerbruch Hutton Gesellschaft
von Architekten mbH, Berlin
• Dr Thomas Staehelin, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the
Kühne Foundation
• Günther Vogt, Landscape Architect, Vogt Landschaftsarchitekten AG,
Zurich
• as well as three representatives of the Hamburg Parliament
Images of the winning design can be downloaded at www.hamburg.de/oper and used for reporting purposes, provided the copyright © BIG & Yanis Amasri Sierra, Madrid, Spain is acknowledged.
From 14 November to 30 November, all designs will be exhibited at the Kesselhaus, Am Sandtorkai 30, 20457 Hamburg in HafenCity.
Opening hours: Friday 14 November from 3 p.m., otherwise:
Tuesday to Friday: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday: 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
Closed on Mondays
Free admission
Further information about the new opera house can be found at: www.hamburg.de/oper
Media enquiries
Kühne Foundation
Dominique Nadelhofer | Press Officer
Telephone: 0041-79 128 03 27
Email: dominique.nadelhofer@kuehne-foundation.org
Website: www.kuehne-stiftung.org
Authority for Culture and Media
Enno Isermann | Press Officer
Telephone: 0049-40-42824 207
Email: enno.isermann@bkm.hamburg.de
Internet: www.hamburg.de/bkm
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