Harbour Residences Duisburg

The residential complex in Duisburg’s Inner Harbor blends seamlessly into the modern urban district that has emerged from a former industrial port. The unique combination of historic building structures, contemporary architecture, and direct waterfront location makes this site particularly attractive. The two building structures, arranged parallel to the canals, comprise 66 residential units and follow the urban planning guidelines of the master plan. They combine cost-efficient construction with high architectural quality, creating a well-thought-out residential concept that embodies openness, light, and spaciousness.

The two four-story buildings form the eastern and western block edges along Hanse and Speicher Canal. Their clear, linear structure is complemented by a recessed top floor, adding a sense of lightness to the building’s form. Each staircase serves only two apartments per floor, creating a vertical connection between the canals and the inner courtyard. The fully glazed stairwells provide striking architectural accents and introduce transparency into the building structure.

The construction follows a high degree of prefabrication, enabling precise, sustainable, and economical implementation. The facades consist of full-height prefabricated wooden elements, while stairwells, loggias, and staircases are made of precast concrete elements assembled on-site. The ceilings are built using filigree construction techniques. This approach reduces construction time while ensuring a consistently high level of quality in execution.

The apartments are designed to adapt flexibly to different living situations. The floor plans allow for versatile usage, with neutral room layouts that can be individually arranged as bedrooms, children’s rooms, or living spaces. Apartment sizes range from two- to four-room units with floor areas between 48 and 118 square meters, complemented by spacious maisonette apartments at the ends of the buildings. All apartments have a dual-aspect orientation, allowing living spaces to extend from one facade to the other. Open kitchen areas can be integrated into the living space, enhancing the sense of openness. Deep loggias on one side and narrow verandas on the other create a strong connection to the outdoors, further enhancing the quality of living.

Thoughtful details define the entire concept. The stairwells are fully glazed and feature a glass elevator along with single-flight staircases. Thanks to thermally insulated walls in the adjacent apartments, the stairwell remains unheated, minimizing the heated volume to the residential spaces while ensuring continuous natural ventilation. The apartment entrance doors are designed as heavy, insulated front doors, complemented by a built-in wooden bench in the facade, offering an inviting gesture at the entrance.

The architectural concept was developed by ingenhoven associates. In addition, comprehensive studies in the fields of building physics, wind engineering, traffic planning, environmental technology, as well as safety and fire protection planning, were conducted. The residential complex combines cost-efficient and sustainable construction with high architectural quality, making a significant contribution to the development of Duisburg’s Inner Harbor as a vibrant and modern urban district.