Originally laid out as the main square of the medieval new town, the Hopfenmarkt in Hamburg served as a vegetable market until well into the 20th century. In recent years, archaeologists have found well-preserved remains of the circular rampart that was built here a millennium ago as a successor fortification to Hammaburg Castle. A competition was launched to design an exhibition building above the excavation site that would make the remains of the «New Castle», which lie five to six meters below ground, visible as an archaeological window.

The redesign creates an attractive recreational area that does justice to the historically significant location around Nikolaifleet. Our design proposes a restrained structure that places the thematic focus on the St. Nikolai memorial and the new archaeological window. By preserving and expanding the existing trees, clearings of different sizes are created, which restructure the square and define special places such as the archaeological window or the water feature.

The excavation and construction area is aligned with the central axis of the church. The underground showroom is located on the northern edge of the excavation area. A display window provides a first glimpse from the square and arouses curiosity. The clear abstraction of form and content characterizes the reduced structure of the Archaeological Window. This clearly sets it apart from the architectural language of the church building and sets it back from the actual exhibit. The subterranean inner shell of the room is made of rammed earth, creating a homogeneous spatial sculpture that tells the story of Hamburg’s origins both haptically and visually.