Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier, Germany
Voice Alarm System Meeting the Highest Safety Standards – at Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier
Open, urban, elegant – the new Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier forms the vibrant heart of Hamburg’s HafenCity. Covering a total area of 419,000 m², it combines shopping, working, living, culture and entertainment – creating a lively meeting place for residents and visitors alike. Ensuring their safety plays a central role in this modern city quarter. For the approx. 100,000 m² “Core” area, which includes retail, food court and leisure facilities, a voice alarm system was implemented to meet the highest safety standards. Planning and installation were carried out by our partner ELA PRO from Hamburg. Their system of choice: the TOA VX-3000, realised in a fully redundant setup according to Safety Level 3 of VDE 0833-4. This safety level is intended for facilities where maximum operational reliability is required – comparable to standards used in nuclear power plants. Accordingly, the system was installed at four locations as spatially separated versions (A and B systems). The connection is established via redundant fibre optic rings, ensuring continued operation even in the event of a network failure.
The largest and most complex TOA voice alarm system in the EMEA region
The scale of the project speaks for itself:
- 18 system racks, with separate technical rooms for the A and B systems
- Around 6,000 loudspeakers and 300 amplifiers for announcements and background music
- Paging stations at info points, in offices and in the security control room
- Automated safety announcements for evacuation scenarios
- Fire brigade paging stations integrated into both systems
Technical complexity meets partnership-based execution
The size of the site, the highest safety standards and the demanding architecture – including extensive glass roof structures – posed significant challenges for planning and acoustics. The large number of amplifiers and interfaces also required intensive coordination. Thanks to the close collaboration between ELA PRO and TOA, one of the most complex voice alarm systems in the EMEA region was successfully implemented – reliable, flexible and secure.
Copyright: ELA PRO GmbH