This is the Elbphilharmonie, a concert hall in Hamburg containing three auditoriums, a restaurant, 15 floors of apartments and an 80-metre escalator - the longest in Europe. But stacking all this on top of an existing 60s warehouse caused problems for architects Herzog & de Meuron.
Originally scheduled to complete in 2010, the concert hall is finally due to open on January 11, 2017, at a cost of €789 million (£680m), more than ten times the original budget. "The whole thing was a pretty intense journey," says Ascan Mergenthaler, senior partner on the project. "It's like building a modern cathedral."
To counter a weakness in the roof of the warehouse - as well as smell contamination after its former life storing cocoa beans - Herzog & de Meuron excavated the entire core before adding columns to support the glass upper section.
This structure was a challenge in itself: "Nobody has ever done this triple glazed, deformed, screen-printed glass coated with several layers of solar protection," explains Mergenthaler. But now construction is complete, he can relax and enjoy the view. "It's been a continuous effort on all sides to make this building happen."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
