New Natural History Museum to be built in Hamburg’s HafenCity
© Winking Froh Architekten
Baufeld 51 – this is the name of the plot of land on which the planned new natural history museum (“Evolutioneum”) of the LIB in Hamburg is to be built. The research museum is to be located on the site between Shanghaiallee, Überseeallee and Hongkongstraße in the HafenCity district. The decision was made within the steering group of the project, which consists of several Hamburg authorities.
It is to become a beacon project for the science and museum world: The new Natural History Museum for Hamburg is to offer an innovative exhibition, excellent research with sufficient space for laboratories as well as the extensive scientific collection in close connection. Under the leadership of the Behörde für Wissenschaft, Forschung, Gleichstellung und Bezirke (BWFGB) and with the participation of various other Hamburg authorities as well as municipal stakeholders, numerous locations – also in the inner city area – were examined using an evaluation matrix. Due to the extremely specific requirements of a research museum, the decision was made in favour of a new building in a representative and public-oriented location as well as good integration into Hamburg’s science and museum landscape.
The BWFGB commissioned the HIS Institute for Higher Education Development e. V. to measure the space requirements. Interim results are already available. The complete study will be available at the beginning of 2023 and will provide an important basis for the subsequent architectural competition. The Hamburg Senate, together with the Leibniz Institute of Biodiversity Change Analysis (LIB), will later determine from the participating designs the proposal that best suits the LIB in terms of both urban planning and content. In parallel, the development of the content of the exhibition and mediation area will be advanced.