The Elbphilharmonie is located on a site that occupies a stoic presence in the consciousness of the residents of Hamburg, yet they rarely if ever visit it. But this will change and soon it will become a landmark building and a new vibrant center for the city. The Kaispeicher A, designed by Werner Kallmorgen and constructed from 1963 to 1966, was originally used as a warehouse for cocoa beans. The new building has been extruded from the shape of the Kaispeicher A; it is perfectly congruent with the older building upon which it has been placed. The top and bottom of the new structure however are entirely different; the quiet, plain shape of the warehouse sits below a lifted crystalline shape characterized by an undulating roof. In contrast to the brick facade, the new building above has a glass facade, consisting in part of curved panels, some of them cut open.