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We were asked to make a proposal for a marketing company’s new face. We searched from their history to recent campaigns, and filtered out what is essential. Our answer was to organize the primary elements within the office and to create spatial experience enhancing their time spent at work.
A building of former Estonian jersey producer Marat was turned into an office building in 2010. We were asked to propose for a roof-top extension within strict height and insolation regulation.
The site is located amongst thick forest by the Baltic Sea. We were asked to use wood from the local forest for a modest summer house, which can be used all-year-around. Within the compact volume we tried to contain zones characterised by different views, light conditions and spatial settings. The life within the house is organized around a fireplace with heat-accumulating wall.
Urban planning concept
The planning of the area is based on organisation of logistics, while creating open public spaces with different qualities.
The connection between Andrejdambis and the city in the south direction is handled as a continuous urban park “promenade” on the raised +6.00 level, with smooth connections with other levels both up and down, via ramps and stairs.
Plaza at Andrejosta Bay at the south end is main meeting point of the area, a market place and picnic ground along the hustle of terminal passengers and vehicles moving both on water and on ground.
Located just outside of the city centre of Tallinn, A quiet residential area Nõmme is known for the first Estonian Republic time functionalistic residential buildings and pine tree forest. It has been beloved residential area for a long time. The two plots close to Nõmme centre and railway station will house a small apartment complex. Two of 4-storey volumes connected in the basement level shall enjoy the best what is offered. Compact volumes are accentuated by glass-covered balconies.
The brief asked for a new building for Estonian Film Museum, a storage, and design for courtyard in the existing Maarjamäe complex of Estonian History Museum. It is located on the hill overlooking the Tallinn Bay, having limestone cliff as a great background. Historically speaking, the complex used to produce sugar and spirit from the 19th century and later a manor house “castle” was added. Since 1987 the museum has been open in this location, additionally to a building in the Old Town. Due to this historical context the envelope and location of new building were prescribed strictly.
A start-up enterprise has finally found appropriate venue to start their business after years of searching and trying. We have helped to develop image and atmosphere suiting to them in limited time and budget. Thanks to the southern facing store front the small but cozy shop can accommodate 4 to 6 persons seating nicely. It was aimed to keep the design so low-key and not pretentious that one can feel he/she is visiting someone’s dining room.
The former Tivoli area lies between the Tallinn harbour and a historical residential area Kadriorg. The artificial land by landfill from the 1930s has foreseen an extension of a major by-pass around the city. The area has been one of the strategic areas for development of Tallinn, so was chosen as a site for an architectural competition Europan 6 in 2007. The winning proposal was further developed into a detail planning by Rein Murula AB, which was approved in 2008.
A company dealing with sportbooking has seeked for a new home in a former textile factory building since 1960, which were renovated as an office building in 2010. The client has specific requirements in practical, spatial and budgetary aspects due to their business typology. The task was of course to utilize the 870m2 floor area to meet their practical demands, but at the same time we tried to provide space for creating better team feeling among employees. Most of our work has concentrated in how to organize the open work zone to accommodate 140 persons at maximum period. In the middle of the zone the core consists of a meeting room, a kitchen, toilets and wardrobes was inserted. The open work zone was separated from the administration zone by a row of technical rooms. This planning enables their easy expansion in the near future. Some traces of previous industrial use were integrated into design.
When considering nature of the Congress and scale of the whole exhibitions happening simultaneously, we thought it was necessary to communicate through a simple but strong concept to present who we are and what we think. We prefered to answer to the main theme of the Congress ” DESIGN 2050″ than exhibiting the projects from 3 Baltic States. Through the open competition we found suitable proposal, which was by Mark Grimitliht, an Estonian student incorporating a “Globe”, 2-meter diameter ball of modelling clay. This was to be a playground where everyone could demonstrate their vision of the year 2050, thus the visions would be the future of our environment.
The Linnahall, built for the Tallinn Olympic Regatta held in 1980, was the first and only place offering common people access to the sea within the centre of the city during the Soviet era since all the port area was closed off. The low mastaba-like structure of the building was so designed to preserve a view of the Old Town from Tallinn Bay. The design of the Linnahall, by Raine Karp and Riina Altmäe, still appears fresh and modern.
The 1,5 century-old Rotermann Quarter, a former industrial area for food production, is located between the Tallinn’s old town and the port, where stands still historically-valuable limestone buildings under heritage protection. On-going redevelopment takes place between the existing historical limestone buildings, including the Old Flour Storage from 1904. The New Flour Storage was aimed to form a plaza as a new focal point of the quarter. The project consists of three volumes; the Old Flour Storage with 2 additional stories, the New Flour Storage and the Atrium connecting the two. Ground floor is for retail and all upstairs are for offices.
The extension is to inserted to the courtyard behind the beautiful main building of brick. It was quite a challenge to fit the required programme to the narrow courtyard with strict height/ volume limitation. The final proposal was a compact volume but intended also as a extension of the courtyard with help of glass facade. The materials were chosen to create quiet and complimentary background for the existing main building also to make the courtyard as a interior room.
The planning competition called for an idea for new terminal building to combine relocated train station with bus stops as well as new traffic scheme. The proposal was to locate a new train station as a landmark with hybrid programme consists of shopping, business, and living. Thanks to reorganized traffic scheme to lessen area for car traffic the proposal could create about 7000m2 of new floor area.
The seasonal vending kiosks of icecream are to refresh the image of summer resort town of Pärnu. The shell made of woven birch veneer was intended to display rich tradition of handcraft in the street.
The site is located in the old town in Tartu along the street where offices and institutions. The approach was not only to fit the new volume into the historical context but also to add value to that in contemporary manner. The compact volume consisting of 8 apartments provides living space in split level, mostly opening to two directions; street side and courtyard side in order to maximize the opportunity to reside in the old town. The roof and facade are articulated with tall windows to create rhythm to the streetscape.
The site has been not-in- use for about a decade, firstly used as military storage since 19th century, later police station. The premire location, nearby the Old Town of Tallinn and at the begining of beautiful wooden house area, would need to accommodate 8 new apartment buildings in harmony with culturally important building of lime stone from the 19th century. Firstly decided was to bring the value of the lime stone storage building to the new ‘plaza’ defined by the corner building. The other apartment building were located and shaped to meet insolation requirement. The landscaping was intended to create community among residents as well as to protect their privacy.
An IT company wanted to move back to the city centre from a spacious office of 800m2 in suburb, preferably to be close to their work-related partners (one of them happened to be our previous client AGE McCANN in the same “Uus Jahuladu” building designed by our office), more over to refresh the company’s image as a creative agency as well as the working environment for better team working.
Our initial task was to accommodate maximum of 35 people within 420m2, thus open office typology was chosen. The floor is divided by ‘green houses’ into two zones: client-related public zone and private zone for own people. We tried to create small scale as well, which workers can easily relate themselves to the room as well as to feel at home.
The advertising agency AGE McCANN found suitable home for themselves in the Rotermann’s Uus Jahuladu (new flour storage) by our office. This Uus Jahuladu was originally designed for open office typology with non-homogeneous light condition by random windows. This project was to become our pilot project to study how the irregular condition of natural light could work within traditional cabinet typology given by the client. Through the design process we discovered this condition was an important source to create soft and cozy atmosphere, as opposed to typical glass-facade office buildings.
The Estonian Academy of Arts, founded in 1914, was the first art school providing general education and preparation for speciality in arts and crafts in Estonia. Since the Academy has existed in the same location at the beginning of Tartu Road it’s entire history, we consider important not to erase its past and preserve the original building as a link to the school’s long and colourful history. The new building is designed inside out: the inner structure of the departments guides the overall form of the building. The building is divided into zones for each department, though zones are again connected to each other by the atrium (“street”), also by vertical transportations and rooms for general use. The atrium and the glazed deep cuts on the Gonsiori Street side do not only provide rooms with extra light, but also give an insight into the rhythm of life of each department and create a visual contact in-between.
The site is situated at the premier location in Tartu, where all perimeters can enjoy views. The proposal is to bring in light and nature in a discrete manner, by cutting the building volume and creating pockets for “personalized” parks close to people at work. This cutting-in optimizes usable depth of building as well as produces several loosely separated zones within the same floor. Glass curtain wall surrounding these cut-ins contrasts to the horizontal ribbon windows in the main facade, which bounds exterior views as picture frames rather than show at full extent. Main facade refers to the existing stone retaining wall.
The site is situated at the center of the Ruhnu island with 64 permanent residents, where exists the oldest wooden church in Estonia. The competition brief asked for a contemporary solution which fits and enjoys rich culture of traditional wooden buildings on the island. The existing school is accomodated in the former church in the next property but it will move into the new school in 2 or 3 stages. The proposal is composed of 3 volumes with different roof angles as well as tones of exterior finish and construction methods. The central volume is imagened to be a “lounge”, consisting the main entrance, open dining room and play room, teachers’ room.
Broadcasting in old days was one-way communication; input-edit-output to the public. Nowadays public can also output messages thanks to development in IT technology. Through the development the primacy of the “sender” has got weaken. Since this is a public building, not private, the it has advantage to be conceived as a common platform where the “receiver” can also access, participate, and view the process of the broadcasting.
The old town of Viljandi spreads over the hill overlooking the Viljandi Lake. The site is at thes bottom of the hill, directly onto the lake, next to the existing lifesaver’s watchtower, boat storage, and beach. The building was meant to be seen from the castle on top of the hill as well as from the lake. Competition brief called for a rowingboat storage, a workshop, and a viewing platform with economical solution. Our proposal was to evoke movement in form and to connect the building to the landscape. The roof segments with 2 slightly different curve are slid one after another to make slits letting natural light to come in daytime and artificial light to go out in the evenings. The viewing tower was designed as a separate sculptural object. The roof and the exterior wall are covered with wooden slats.
Estonia regained its independence on 20 August 1991 and joined the European Union in 2004. It has since embarked on a rapid programme of social and economic reform. The creation of the new Estonian National Museum, to be located in the city of Tartu, is testament to the quest for reawakening a pride in national identity and a unique cultural history. The international competition for the design and execution of the 34 000 m² building, housing a collection of 140 000 objects, was launched in 2005.
Mahtra is a name of place and of manor, known among Estonians due to a historical event in 1858, the first uprising of Estonian farmers. The existing museum houses exhibitions on Mahtra war and folk culture in local area. The extention project is to commemorate life of peasants rather than war through calmness of all settings.
Competition entry for Rotermann Old and New Flour Storage (Rotermanni Vana ja Uus Jahuladu)
The existing house stands inside of the courtyard among wooden houses in the area protected as the “valuable miljöö” in the outer ring of the central city of Tallinn. The existing stone structure, once served as a lemonade factory, was originally built at the beginning of 1950, stood empty for a while. The small but stone house is now to be renovated and extended for live/ work purpose for a musician. The proposal is to maximize the inner volume in the addition part within the limitation by the building code, as well as to keep privacy from the immediate neighbours through appropriate window sizes and orientation. The exterior wall is to be rendered roughly in light grey as respect to the existing building.
This mixed-use development is located right at the heart of the city center of Tallinn. The large scale urban infill project is envisioned to become a gateway to the port area from the city center as well as a key connection point to on-going development in the Rotermann Quarter next door.
Saue Town is located just south of Tallinn City. Local government had reorganized the park which is used in festivals including the Midsummer Day. Their next idea was to make a sun dial that works with shadows of the standing person. Our proposal was to use it also as “a carpet in the park”, for sitting, playing, and picnicing. The rather free form was accepted by them as a shape of a leaf of oak, symbol of the town as well as the national tree of Estonia. The line of stainless steel plate on the pigmented concrete base, inscribed with names of donator, indicates time. The sun dial works between 7 to 18 during the daylight saving time.
The Soviet time off-limit port and warehouse area has been given to private sector since 90s. It now sees the biggest opportunity of redeveloping in the vicinity of the historical Old Town. The triangular site was shaped by the planned extension of 4-lane artery. We saw the challenge to create one of the first living rooms close to the port, offering the residents views and air, at the same time to contribute to the public architecturally and urbanistically. Y-shape building with central corridor minimizes its foot print, avoiding the street alignment of the block-type apartment buildings. Both the residents and the public on the street shall share the extra room within the property line.
The sports hall is located in the outskirts of Tallinn, at the beginning of the soviet-era housing area with apartment blocks made of the prefabricated concrete panels. It is to answer to the current condition by the result of the strict planning from the 80s and the fast commercial development since 90s. The wild ivy is to cover the building gradually during next two decades, which shall provide greenery in this area where has very little. The face of the building will always change its appearance in a slow speed, representing steady and slow process of physical training.