Key facts
Opening: 8 April 2025
Over 1 million visits in just two weeks
Target: 16.2 million visitors per year
94,000 m² of shops and restaurants
Total area of the district: 419,000 m²
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
Überseequartier: Seeside District
Welcome to Überseequartier, one of the largest urban development projects in Europe. Here, you won’t just find a shopping centre. This is a mixed-use development at the heart of Hamburg, facing the River Elbe, where retail, culture, leisure, hotels, restaurants, bars, and offices come together. It has been designed to connect the indoors with the outdoors, offering meeting places, spaces to stroll, to explore, and to discover. The design approach by Saguez & Partners is rooted in a strong local identity, inspired by the Hanseatic heritage of the city.
Out of the ordinary between Heritage & Modernity
In Hamburg, Überseequartier represents a bold new chapter for a major European city. Spanning over 400,000 m², Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has transformed 7 hectares of former industrial land into a vibrant, open, mixed-use district combining retail, residential, office spaces, hotels, leisure facilities, and a cruise terminal. Its shopping centre, Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier, is ike no other. It is a through-space, physically open and designed as a natural extension of the city in the spirit of urban arcades.
Überseequartier is a true place of exchange and connection: between inside & outside, heritage & modernity, culture & commerce, nature & architecture, the expected & the unexpected.” Boris Gentine, Executive Creative Director, Saguez & Partners
A place open to the Elbe, at the heart of a new district with 94,000 m² dedicated to shopping and leisure.
Out of the ordinary between Culture & Retail
HafenCity is made up of ten districts, including Überseequartier, located along the banks of the River Elbe. Spanning 7 hectares, the Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier, developed by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, opened its doors on 8 April 2025. It is a true slice of the city: a place to live, work, stroll, and connect. Fourteen teams of architects and designers joined forces to create a spectacular ensemble, inspired by Hamburg’s maritime heritage and seamlessly integrated into the urban landscape.
Out of the ordinary by Design & Architecture
Saguez & Partners, in collaboration with URW’s Concept Studio, designed the interior layout of the entire district and defined the overarching design concept. From this vision emerged a new narrative: Seeside District, which takes on a dual challenge:
- Preserving the soul of the site by highlighting its maritime and industrial identity.
- Celebrating diversity by giving each space its own character and purpose.
Our approach draws inspiration from Hamburg’s Hanseatic heritage, reinterpreting the raw, textured materials of the era: brick, granite, concrete, ribbed metal, and rope. Weathered solid wood and copper in all its forms (shiny, patinated, verdigris, or blackened) enrich the material palette. Iconic elements such as corrugated glass containers and steel I-beams are repurposed into urban furniture. Flags, pennants, colourful textiles, and touches of local greenery complete the setting, while the proximity of the water brings a calming atmosphere to every space.
A dialogue between Inside & Outside, Heritage & Modernity, Culture & Retail…
A metal and glass roof, designed by Werner Sobek, shelters the ground floor from the weather.
Large openings bring natural light down to the basement. A space open to the city and under the open sky.
This inside-outside concept, where the city blends with the shopping centre, is made possible by the glass roof designed by Werner Sobek, which covers the walkways while allowing natural light to flood in. Openings in the floor slab create visual and physical links between street level and the lower ground floor, crossed by wooden footbridges that enhance the feeling of space, flow, and freedom. Much like a seaside promenade.
"I deeply believe in the transformation of the shopping centre and its renewed connection with the city. Far beyond more open architecture with ground-floor units, terraces, rooftops, it is the offer itself that must deliver the surprise. An offer that is less commercial and more focused on cultural and social dimensions." Olivier Saguez, Designer & Founder, Saguez & Partners.
Outstanding early results: over one million visits within the first two weeks of opening.
Outstanding Early Results
- Successful opening of Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier on 8 April, attracting over one million visits in the first two weeks.
- Shopping centre occupancy rate: 95%.
- Target: 16.2 million visitors per year.
Photo credits
MOKA Studio
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
verbundhochdrei GmbH
Saguez & Partners