The project shown in this archive is the Hamburg House at Expo 2010 Shanghai, not a Hamburg museum. It was Hamburg’s permanent case pavilion in the Urban Best Practices Area and combined exhibition, work and living uses in a red masonry-like facade composition.
This case study preserves LOPO’s 2016 red-terracotta product record and photographs while correcting the project identity with primary project sources. Conflicting legacy dates, product codes and energy numbers remain visible as historical claims rather than being promoted as verified tile or whole-building performance.
Project identity and architectural concept
Hamburg House was created for Expo 2010 Shanghai and remained in use after the exhibition. The official Hamburg archive describes it as China’s first certified Passive House and a long-term base for Hamburg-related activities in Shanghai. MUDI’s project portfolio identifies the building as an exhibition and office project, credits MUDI and Dittert & Reumschüssel Architekten, and records a total area of 3,200 m².
The design uses dark red, brick-like wall fields and projecting “drawer” volumes, with larger glazed areas where daylight was required. The red facade connects the Shanghai building to Hamburg’s masonry architectural identity without making the terracotta units responsible for the whole-building environmental concept.
Archived LOPO product record
| Source field | 2016 LOPO archive | Current-use boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Product items | SD670 / KW670 / SD870 / KD63 / KWS6375 | Historical code list only. Confirm each current item, body, profile, surface, colour and availability. |
| Image-label discrepancy | The product image appears to label one profile `KD637`, not `KD63` | Keep both records visible; do not choose a corrected code without current manufacturer archive evidence. |
| Product size | 220 × 105 × 52 mm | The article gives one nominal size for the group and does not map it separately to each code. Confirm dimensions, tolerances and applicability. |
| Product quantity | Not supplied | Do not convert building area, roof area or photographs into tile quantity. |
| Surface description | Red tone with a sand/gravel-like bumped texture | A historical visual description. Approve current physical samples and range; no surface-performance result was provided. |
| Legacy support statement | External-wall support carried the masonry weight back to the main structure and allowed ±3.5 cm vertical adjustment | No drawing, component identity, calculation or responsible designer was cited. Do not reuse this adjustment or support concept without current engineering. |
| Legacy project time | 2008 | Conflicts with verified Expo 2010 identity and the design portfolio’s 2009–2010 record; retain only as an unresolved source field. |
Facade material and detail reading
The retained close view shows small red units in a regular horizontal bond beside large glazed openings. The source describes special colour/firing and a textured face; it does not provide a current colour code, clay body, firing curve, mortar/joint specification, attachment drawing, quantity or installation responsibility.
The project can inform discussions about red tone, small-unit scale, bond, joint rhythm, corners and glass transitions. A current project still needs its own samples, construction details, support/anchor engineering, movement strategy and material-interface review.
Keep legacy energy numbers in context
The 2016 LOPO article included several building-level figures. They are retained for traceability but not presented as terracotta performance values or as a substitute for the original project energy documentation.
| Legacy 2016 statement | Evidence boundary | Do not infer |
|---|---|---|
| About 18 m high | The LOPO article gives this approximate height; the checked primary summaries do not provide a matching height. | No facade area, panel count or number of courses. |
| Five floors | The LOPO article says five floors, while contemporary reporting described a four-storey building. Treat floor count as unresolved in this archive. | No floor-by-floor facade or tile quantity. |
| 25°C constant indoor temperature | Contemporary reporting described a 25°C target and whole-building passive strategies. | No claim that terracotta alone maintains temperature. |
| External energy only 10% of ordinary houses | The comparison basis, calculation and “ordinary house” benchmark are absent from the LOPO article; contemporary sources use differing energy metrics. | No transferable percentage for another building or product. |
| 450 m² roof solar equipment | The LOPO article gives this area and another technical summary also reports 450 m²; the design portfolio displays a conflicting unit. | No tile quantity or roof/facade area relationship. |
| About 80% of electricity | The article says rooftop solar would provide about 80% of operational electricity; no period, load boundary or calculation is cited there. | No guaranteed renewable-energy share for operation or another project. |
The source also mentions glazing, roof solar energy, ventilation openings, a compact envelope and passive heat gains. Those are interacting building systems. Current claims require the original certification, energy model, measured data and defined boundaries—not a facade-material photograph.
Case-study evidence limits
Verified identity
Hamburg House at Expo 2010 Shanghai, with the design credit and 2009–2010 record stated above.
Archived LOPO lead
Five text-listed product codes, one group size, a texture description, a support-system statement and two body photographs.
Unresolved fields
The 2008 date, floor count, KD63/KD637 code difference and several energy figures remain dated or conflicting records.
Not supplied
Terracotta quantity, facade area, current product data, installer, facade engineer, detailed support components, tests, warranties and measured product performance.
- current tile/brick item, body, colour, texture, profile, dimensions, tolerances and sample range;
- elevation, bond, joint, corner, opening, base, parapet and adjacent-material details;
- support, anchor, substrate, movement and load-path engineering where applicable;
- current product and assembly evidence required by the project and jurisdiction;
- visual/technical mock-ups with written scope and acceptance criteria; and
- quantity, packing, delivery, installation, maintenance and replacement planning.
Explore current terracotta products and projects
Use the current Terracotta Tile and Terracotta Brick pages for present product context. Browse the Architectural Terracotta Gallery for additional precedents while keeping each project’s verified facts separate.
Discuss a red terracotta facade
Send the project location, elevations and details, target unit and bond, colour/texture reference, preliminary quantity, support concept, criteria, delivery destination and programme. Current products, samples, engineering and approvals must be confirmed for the proposed building.