Covering the A7 in Hamburg roofs will enhance the quality of life for the residents Urban development opportunities of these densely populated districts. Plans for the roof in Altona As at: competition results 2012 A 7 The A7 motorway must be widened and therefore In these newly quiet parts of Altona residential steps to provide better noise protection are needed: developments are to be built to the right and left of in parts of the sections running through Altona the roofed-over motorway, above all in Bahrenfeld Volkspark and Stellingen the noise barriers are no longer between the old settlement areas of Bahrenfeld village adequate. To offer the best possible noise reduction in the north-west and the formerly independent to road-side residents, therefore, some parts of town of Altona. These houses will stand on the the autobahn are to be enclosed. Noise reduction edge of a continuous green corridor between Altona is a legal requirement and necessary measures are Volkspark and the River Elbe. The Stellingen and funded by the Federal Government. In addition, the Schnelsen sections that will be roofed over are already Holstenkamp City of Hamburg plans to use its own funds to give surrounded by residential districts. Here, covering Schnelsen and Altona a level of noise protection the motorway will benefi t the immediate neighbours over and above that demanded by law. Here too, most of all by reducing noise pollution and creating instead of installing acoustic walls up to 9 m high, new green spaces. The roof over the motorway will the motorway will be covered. also free up land in the Borough of Eimsbüttel for new housing because allotment gardens and planned The city reunites parks can be relocated to the new roof. Covering the When the A7 motorway was built in the 1970s A7 means that houses can be built on sites that were it slashed through the western part of Hamburg, previously out of the question because the levels of Bahrenfelder Chaussee severing old connections; now there is an traffi c noise were too high. Revenues from the sale of Lutherpark opportunity to restore them or create completely municipal land will help to offset Hamburg’s share of Lutherpark new links. The new open spaces on the covering the costs of the motorway roof. Quick facts: the Altona roof: © Visualisierung: DEGES/V-KON-media © Visualisierung: The A7 slashes through the western part of Urban development objectives COVERING THE A7 Hamburg ››› About 2,200 metres long, from ››› To link the city districts on each side of Behringstrasse to Volkspark MORE OPEN SPACE Published by: the motorway Ministry of Urban Development and Housing ››› A continuous green corridor between Neuenfelder Strasse 19, 21109 Hamburg FOR HAMBURG ››› To create new green, open spaces and Volkspark and the River Elbe Reponsible under press law: Dr. Magnus-Sebastian Kutz new connecting paths ››› Rejoining the two parts of Luther Park [email protected] ››› To give neighbouring city districts and Bonne Park www.hamburger-deckel.de Bonnepark August 2016 greater protection from noise than required by law ››› New housing developments on both sides of the roofed-over motorway ››› More house/apartment building Bonnepark New allotments Motorway widening and covering The Altona roof New plots for lease From plan to completion Linked by a green chord Thanks to the roof over the A7 it will again be Before construction work can start, each project Osdorfer Weg Abfahrt The acoustic roof in Altona opens up enormous ARBOS, landscape architects from Hamburg, have Hamburg- feasible to build housing on the adjoining land. requires a legal foundation. Therefore a variety Bahrenfeld urban development opportunities. The gash designed an elongated strip of parkland with a Some of this land is currently occupied by allotment Schnelsen Stellingen Altona of planning procedures must be observed before caused by the motorway will be sealed between promenade on the western side of the cover. Next to 2008 gardens. These will be relocated to the motorway parks and allotment gardens can be placed on the Behringstrasse and Volkspark; the neighbouring this is a wider strip consisting of allotment gardens. roof-tops. Garden plots on one of the busiest motorway roofs. Bahrenfelder districts of Bahrenfeld and Othmarschen and the The long-established Luther Park and Bonne Park, Marktplatz motorways in Germany. Can that be done? Yes, it divided parks will be reunited. New connecting paths both cut in two when the autobahn was built, can. It is important to ensure that the new soil on Competition Competition 1. The legal foundation for constructing or widening and opportunities for leisure and recreation are the will be joined together again. Bordering the new the roof is ideally suited for gardening. Apart from the A7 is the plan’s determination process pursuant result. The Altona roof will also implement a town- sportsground at Baurstrasse a grassy area planted making sure the soil is unpolluted, the layering to the Federal Highway Act. planning idea from the 1920s, when Gustav Oelsner with trees on the roof park will serve to connect of the earth is the most important issue. A high Planning Offi cial suggested a green belt for Altona running from with, and extend, the neighbouring park. Children’s quality soil will be laid to a depth of 1.20 m, so that approval Planning Competition 2. The planned parks and allotment gardens on the “the Volkspark to the River Elbe”. The roof will also playgrounds are planned where the existing parks Offi cial allotment holders’ gardening plans are not restricted of plan motorway roofs are anchored in the legally binding enhance the landscape axis between Volkspark and merge into the new roof-top park, providing approval in any way. Because there will not be room for all land-use plans. the city centre. public meeting points that mingle with the private 2014 of plan the allotments on the roofs, the City plans to create allotment gardens. substitute gardens on other sites. The permanent Determina- In addition to the legal planning procedures, open use of all substitute lots as allotment gardens will be tion of land- space planning competitions were held between use plan Determina- guaranteed in planning documents or by contract. tion of land- 2010 and 2012 to seek designs for the parks and The new green corridor reconnects the divided Bonne Park use plan allotment gardens on each of the three roofs. The Offi cial Sportpark Baurstraße approval land-use plans are based on the competition results. of plan To ensure that traffi c continues to fl ow during the Widening the A7 construction period, work is being carried out in Advantages of roof allotments Planning stages. Work on the A7 starts in the north and Determina- progresses southwards. The competition results for Widening the A7 ››› Unlike the situation in some of the tion of land- the roofs at Schnelsen and Stellingen have therefore current allotment gardens, the new soil use plan been developed and revised, and land-use planning 2020 outSetting & allot- parks gardens ment will have no inherited pollution procedures initiated. Park ››› Legal planning instruments will protect While the land-use planning procedure for the Allotment gardens the allotments on top of the autobahn. outSetting & allot- parks gardens ment covering roofs is still in progress, work has already Paths and open squares Ongoing garden use is assured because started on the autobahn. It will probably take four Widening the A7 Access to park no larger buildings can be sited on the years to widen and cover each separate section of Sportsground roofs. the motorway. When construction is fi nished the Urban development areas parks and allotment gardens can be established on ››› The allotment gardens are attractively the roofs. m located in the immediate neighbourhood Abfahrt N 2027 outSetting & allot- parks gardens ment Hamburg-Othmarschen of a new park DEGES/V-KON-media © Visualisierung: A 7 The Schnelsen Roof Stellingen roof A 7 Local recreation facilities Green pathways through the district Plans for the Stellingen roof As at: revised competition entry 2014 The cover over the Schnelsen section will run from The Stellingen roof stretches from Kieler Strasse Heidlohstrasse, cross Frohmestrasse and end just in the south to the rail freight by-pass line in the before the Hamburg-Schnelsen motorway junction. north. Because of the high ground-water table, the It will lie on the same level as the surrounding autobahn is somewhat elevated in Stellingen, so land. Several residential districts, schools and the that in some parts the tunnel structure must remain centre of Schnelsen are in the immediate vicinity visible and it is not possible to create a roof and of the roof. Less noise from the motorway will park that lie on the same level as the surrounding Schule Wegenkamp appreciably boost the quality of life in these areas. terrain. Landscape architects from Berlin, POLA, have designed a new green area on the top of the roof, with new connecting pathways that open up many opportunities for the residents of Schnelsen. Local people will be able to choose various routes to Imbekstieg approach the park: parallel to the street called Jungborn, a wide esplanade linking Frohmestrasse with Heidlohstrasse will accommodate cyclists and pedestrians. Trees, planted beds, seating and a space Wördemanns Weg to play boules make the park an inviting destination. There will also be a footpath crossing from Jungborn to Vogt-Kock-Weg, providing a new link between the neighbouring residential