Elbphilharmonie

Lonely Planet review

The squat brown-brick former warehouse at the far west of HafenCity is being transformed into the new Elbphilharmonie. Pritzker prize-winning Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron are responsible for the design, which, like their Tate Modern building in London, boasts a glass top.

This time, however, they're being far more ambitious, as the glass façade should be taller than its brick base and the roofline will rise in wave-like peaks to reflect the waterfront location. Boosters are already comparing it to the Museo Guggenheim Bilbao and the Sydney Opera House. It will be ready as early as 2009. If you walk to the back of the Speicherstadt, and keep going along Grosser Grasbrook you'll see it.