Forecourt and garden courtyard Hamburgische Investitions- und Förderbank Open space design

Redesign of the forecourt and the rear garden courtyard
In the course of the structural addition to the industrial and development bank, the open spaces are also to be adapted. A square that forms an appropriate apron to the entrance and with its manageable size offers a valuable address formation in the environment. The project requires a sensitive handling of existing structures that limit the space.
The forecourt is paved with granite slabs in four different shades (anthracite, grey, light grey, reddish), laid in a cross bond with a pixel pattern. The pattern condenses into the centre of the square, which is marked by a sculptural light column. The square is completely illuminated in the evening hours and equally a visual accent is set.
The rear courtyard areas are converted into a garden courtyard, which is used by the employees. Terrace surfaces as wooden decks, seat walls made of granite blocks, partly with wooden overlay, and paths made of existing granite small stone pavers are laid out.
The planting on the forecourt is very formal with low-cut shrubs in raised beds made of clinker brickwork in contrast to the free-growing flower hedges and loose perennial and grass beds in the garden courtyard.