143: Rakvere Linnametsa planeerimise võidutöö

In Short: Danish architect Peter Sand has won the international open competition for the Linnametsa residential quarter in Rakvere, Estonia. The competition, aimed at architects under 30, attracted only 9 entries. Below is the winning proposal, and a little interview with the author.

Rakvere Linnametsa rahvusvaheline konkurss sündis linna üldplaneeringus ettenähtud kavatsusest kujundada alast looduslähedane eramurajoon. Hetkel sellist eramutele planeeritud rajooni Rakveres pole. Alla 30-aastastele arhitektidele suunatud võistlusele esitati 9 projekti, võitjaks osutus ainuke osalenud välismaalane, taanlane Peter Sand.

Projektis pakutud planeeringuline lahendus ühest küljest lõhub piirkonna senist struktuuri, teisalt toob siia värskendavat mustrimuutust, mõjumata omati ebakohaselt. Planeeritud ala mõjub kui senise eramurajooni ja metsa vahelise puhvertsoonina. Järgnevalt töö selku ning pisike küsimustering projekti autoriga.

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The approach of this proposal has been to develop a residential area with a strong connection to the context. By being located on the very edge, where the city and the forest merge together, there has been given a unique opportunity to make an area in the city and in the forest at the same time, with the advantages of both.

This proposal has a strong connection to the world in the forest. Pedestrian paths connect internally and externally, and they make new links and shortcuts to the rest of Rakvere. The new layout extends the borderline between the city and the forest and gives a shorter distance to the trees in the future. Green connections with paths are created in between the new building areas. The gardens are open to provide lots of light into homes. The green connections divide the site into six buildable areas that can work individually and also work together and the surrounding residential areas. Each area has its own access for heavy traffic and they are all dead ends, which means that nobody will pass through by car. That gives the quiet area a focus on light traffic with pedestrians and people on bikes that can easily pass.

It is not necessary to build all areas to get a functionally total layout of the site, which means that the areas can be built in the same speed as they are getting sold. The content of the areas are primarily houses for one or two families and small apartment buildings with up to four apartments as wished in the brief. All buildings have a private garden with easy and often direct access to the forest. Besides the homes a kindergarten and a community centre for the elderly are proposed, but it is important to point out that the suggested layout is so flexible that other divisions of plots can easily be made. This means that for example more or bigger public buildings can be adapted and the locations can be changed, too.

Children's playgrounds have been placed on the paths in the forest, but it is worth mentioning that the forest itself is the best playground you can get.

It is suggested that all buildings will be built of local wood. Wooden structure and facades give beauty and healthy buildings and they adapt visually in a great way into the surroundings. Wood is also very closely connected to the ambition of building this new area with a focus on sustainable solutions. Solar panels are integrated on roofs facing towards the sun and angled ideally for the local conditions to get the biggest effect. Rainwater is collected for being used as flushing in toilets. Heating pumps are installed in all buildings to generate heating in cold winters and to produce cooling in warm summers. Window positions are well thought out, and related to light, sun and air circulation.

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Väike intervjuu projekti autoriga: | As a bonus, here's a short interview with the project's author, Peter Sand.


First of all I would like to ask how you came to know about the Rakvere competition. For some reason yours was the only one of the 9 entries coming from a foreign architect.

To start a little back in time I attended my first architectural competition seven years ago, and since then participations in architectural competitions have been a very important supplement to my professional development as an architect. Starting as a more or less random selection of competitions my choices are now much more systematized, where I am doing a weekly screening of the market to find new competitions, which can be interesting and especially fun for me to do.

During my studies I have had a primarily focus on the design of buildings, and due to that I have had a natural primary interest in competitions, where the aim has been to submit a proposal of a specific building. Lately my interest in large scale projects has grown, and it is a result of my daily challenges at Public Arkitekter, where I started working in February 2010. There my tasks have primarily been focused on projects within the scale of landscape and urban development, and as a result of that my interest in such projects has of course grown bigger. The competition in Rakvere is in many ways a result of the developments I have gone through, and it is therefore a logical and precise choice I did. To come back to what you actually asked about; I found the information about the competition on the website of The Union of Estonian Architects, and because the competition was not well published internationally, I saw it as an excellent opportunity to participate with the assumption that there would not be lots of international proposals. It turned out to be the true, and the result was my first winning proposal in an architectural competition.

Shortly after the competition in Rakvere I incidentally delivered another city planning competition proposal in Europan 11, which is a big European competition for architects under 40 years. At the moment I am doing two other city planning competitions in Scandinavia, and hopefully my luck from Rakvere will be brought to these three competitions!

It is now over 4 months since you were announced the winner of this competition. Have there already been any future plans or agreements with the clients, or is it too early to ask? Do you know if you’ll be included in the further processes of planning?

Unfortunately it is still too early to ask, because it is not decided yet if I will have any influence in the coming planning process.

Your winning proposal is conceptually very simple. Is this the result of something like an in-depth analysis or more of a ‘right feeling’ kind of thing?

From the very beginning it was my intention to make a conceptually simple project due to the fact that it was only allowed to submit two A1 boards. Actually my concept came up very fast, but lots of other solutions were thought out during the process. Though I kept coming back to my original idea, and fortunately others also found the proposal interesting.

Could you please tell me about your cooperation with the industrial designer Marcus Vagnby - how did it start, including how you received commissions for the villas in Bali, and how do an architect and an industrial designer work together on building projects?

Marcus and I have been friends since the age of seven or so, and we actually grew up on the same street. Today we are very close friends, and luckily we also share the passion for architecture and design. He graduated from the Danish School of Design, and afterwards he studied three years in Copenhagen at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, where I got my masters degree. Therefore it was very logic for us to do a collaboration within the fields of architecture and design, and we did our first competition proposal together back in 2004.

Since then lots of things have happened, we have done another six competitions together, and in 2009 we designed the two villas in Bali. Marcus’s parents live in Hong Kong, and through them he was introduced to a Chinese and French couple that lives in Hong Kong too. They wished to get help to the design of two summerhouses in Bali, and of course Marcus would like to come up with the designs. Marcus asked me for assistance, and together we came up with the design proposals. The process was very interesting, where we combined his background as an industrial designer and mine as an architect. The results were two throughout designed villas with lots of details and clear Scandinavian lines with a touch of the local Indonesian building tradition. At the moment one of the villas is under construction, and it is scheduled to be realized within the next half a year.

And to finish, here's a typical interview-question: who do you consider your mentors and greatest influences?

Oh, it is hard to say. I do not have any particular one, but every day I am reading lots of online news and articles about architecture, and that is where I get my primarily inspiration. Besides I read lots of magazines, and I am often to find at the architectural library in Copenhagen. Though, to point someone specific out I am at the moment very interested in Dutch city planning in general, and the Danish architectural office, Lundgaard & Tranberg, is always doing very interesting and beautiful buildings.

Aitäh! | Thank you, Peter!

094: europan 10 tallinna võidutöö

summary: europan 10 winning entry for the site in tallinn, conceived by the young amsterdam-based practice xml. the office is ran by max cohen de lara & david mulder. along with their 1st prize in tallinn, xml also received honorary mentions in both munich and madrid. over the period of twenty years that the europan competition has been held, xml is the first office to be successful in three respective sites at the same time. full description of their winning entry is to follow below.


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tänavune europani noorte arhitektide konkurss tõi tallinna võistlusalale üksteisega mõõtu võtma 44 meeskonda. võistlusalaks oli valitud maalapp linnahalli, kultuurikatla ja tulevase raehoone vahel, eesmärgiks muuta ala linnainimestele atraktiivseks. võidupreemia määrati noorele hollandi arhitektuuribüroole xml, kelle töö näeb ette kahte lihtsavormilist turuhoonet ning hoonestamata alade puudega katmise.

xml-il tasub edaspidi silm peal hoida. lisaks võidule tallinnas määrati neile äramärkimised ka müncheni ja madridi konkurssidel, kusjuures ühe autorkonna niisugune edu oli europani 20-aastase ajaloo jooksul esmakordne.

olgu veel mainitud, et näitus kõigist tallinna konkursitöödest avatakse arhitektuurimuuseumi galeriil 11. märtsil 2010.

nüüd siis konkursi, võidutöö autorite ja töö enda tutvustuste kallale.


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CATEGORY:
urban design / landscape architecture
LOCATION:
Tallinn, city centre
POPULATION:
401 000
STUDY SITE:
14,9 ha
SITE OF PROJECT:
3,4 ha
SITE PROPOSED BY:
the municipality of Tallinn
OWNERS OF THE SITE:
the City of Tallinn, Mere Kinnisvara OÜ, Prokapital
COMMISSION AFTER COMPETITION:
aimed at realisation within the project site and possibly some interventions in the study site.

ASSIGNMENT:

The competition site or project site will become an important public space connecting several important public buildings. The area has high potential of becoming an actively used public space. The project site is also part of the continuous waterfront promenade that is planned to run along the whole 27 km long coastline of Tallinn. How to compose the coastline and the water edge so that it would be attractive for people to use? The existing concert hall building (i.e. Linnahall - jk) itself works as an attractive public space. The competition entries are expected to give solution to a truly new urban public space that would connect the public buildings, provide pedestrian connections to the city centre and offer ideas on different open air activities all year round. For the study site or the site of reflection ideas of how to turn a complicated traffic node that takes up a lot of urban public space into a more efficiently functioning area are very welcome.

CITY STRATEGY:
Tallinn has a well preserved and defined old town centre which is located quite close to the competition site. The new city centre is developing along the north-south direction parallel to the old town. The new development is rapidly approaching the sea and the harbour area. This correlates with the city’s intent to connect the city centre to the waterfront. An important decision was made by the city to locate the new administration building close to the water hoping that it would help to shift the functioning city centre towards the desired direction and trigger new activities around the new building. In 2011 Tallinn will be the Cultural Capital of Europe. Within the Cultural Capital program one of the aims is to create a “cultural kilometre” along the waterfront which the competition area would be part of.

foto: ?

fotod: ?

selle ülilaheda foto autorit tahaks küll teada!

AUTHORS:

XML is a contemporary cultural practice specialized in Architecture, Research and Urbanism. XML is interested in developing architectures that both reflect and provoke contemporary ways of life. By understanding program organization as a key strategy within each project XML aims for establishing new relations between buildings and society, the projects of the office are fuelled by a reflection on the contemporary city as source of cultural production.

From its base in Amsterdam XML has been involved in worldwide cross-disciplinary projects with an emphasis on cultural analysis. The office has won several prizes and is led by two partners, Max Cohen de Lara (b 1979) and David Mulder (b 1980).

photo copyright: XML

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Green Cement

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, which was a prelude to Estonia’s independence, the country has experienced a period of turbulent growth. With a capital that has been characterized by the New York Times as ‘the Silicon Valley on the Baltic Sea,’ Estonia’s G.D.P. has boomed and the number of new construction projects has multiplied since the beginning of the 21st century. Paradoxically, this period of strong economic growth and intense building activity has seen a parallel decrease in the population of Tallinn. Now that the global recession is strongly impacting on Estonia’s economy and construction activities have slowed down significantly, this may be a decisive moment for Tallinn to evaluate its situation and utilize this breathing space to formulate new urban scenarios for the future.

Tallinn Population vs. Estonia Growth Rate vs. Building Permits
1991-2009

A quick analysis shows that, for Tallinn, the economic boom and the explosive increase in building activity of the past 15 years has materialized in the form of urban sprawl. Construction has been particularly strong at the periphery, and the majority of the city’s population now lives at a considerable distance from the city center. A notable aspect of Tallinn’s urban sprawl is that there is little variation in the value of its real estate and few locations are considered distinctly more attractive than others. Another important feature is the steady decline in residential density over a period of 50 years, a decline that has accelerated since the country’s independence.

Urban Growth (1990-2006)

Hence, after 40 years of communist social engineering and urban development followed by the post-independence construction outburst, Tallinn’s sprawling urban plan is characterized by two extremes: areas with new, primarily self-referential conditions alternated with vast expanses of no-man’s land. The city has recently formulated the ambition to strengthen its relationship to the surrounding water. However, in view of current economic and demographic conditions, it may be argued that this is not the most sustainable and realistic scenario. An attempt to fill the city’s voids with any kind of program is highly dubious, and it is the zones between urban area and water in particular that consist of meaningless stretches of unused space, former military terrain, and dockland areas.

Urban condition: automatically allocating programs to all undefined areas within a sprawling city means that scant available resources must be distributed over a multitude of needs. Instead, this proposal focuses on a strategy of creating contrasts.

Here, differences between various parts of the city are reinforced by filling undefined areas with woodlands. These woodlands will have a major impact on Tallinn, in various ways. Naturally changing with the seasons, the woods transform stretches of no-mans’s land into meaningful spaces. By filling no-man’s land with woodlands, locations that are to be developed in the future will have added value and buildings realized on these locations will be special, regardless of their architecture; each fragment in the landscape becomes unique instead of disappearing into urban oblivion. Depending on future trends, certain urban areas may be allocated to the woodlands, or vice versa. Thus, the city will have room for expansion and reduction, all within the same organic system. The woodlands provide the ‘Green Cement’ needed to bind Tallinn’s fragmented structure, giving consistency to the city’s urban fabric. A clear contrast between the city and the woodlands is an affirmation of the true identity of Tallinn as capital of Estonia, where over 50% of the land is covered by forests. The Green Cement scenario allows Tallinn to grow -- literally -- into a modern metropolis characterized by clearly delineated public spaces rather than an endless sprawl of indistinctness.

Strategy: filling undefined areas with woodlands.

One of the fragments in this new urban landscape is the cluster that contains the Cultural Factory, the Linnahall, the new City Administration Building and the new Market Twins. The Market Twins are two rectangular generic halls, which house the fish market, and the food and design markets respectively. The modest architecture of the halls is complemented by interiors in which market activities are organized through the placement of stalls and daylighting. In the fish market hall, the long lines of the fish stalls follow the shoreline and the hall’s daylighting runs in the same direction, providing a clear overview in an essentially chaotic marketplace. The public space created by the area between the fish market hall and the Linnahall becomes part of the new route along the shoreline, which can be seen from this viewpoint through the filter of lanes between the lined fish stalls. The second hall houses the design market and the food market. Here, daylighting is organized in a gradient that consists of a variety of apertures. Like open spaces in the woods where sunlight shines through, the concentration of programmatic activities at various spots in this hall is accentuated by daylighting. The placement of market stalls and furniture helps to highlight various areas within this space. Besides the food market and the design market, this hall houses a restaurant, a small conference center and a creative workshop area. These programs will allow the hall to develop into an informal civic hall that complements the formal City Administration Building located across the street.

Informal Civic Hall

Fishmarket

Clearly delineated by Green Cement, the project creates a public space in which the Linnahall, the City Administration Building and the Market Twins become genuine actors, each with their own roles. The clear demarcation of the boundaries through the adjacent woodlands allows the site to develop into a meaningful public space, with a program that will be truly rooted in Tallinn’s urban fabric.

Plan

082: eka uue maja autorid raekoja kallal

summary: the cooperation between two young danish practices sea and effekt proved to be highly successful with their much-praised winning design for the new building of the estonian academy of arts. while developing the project (which will enter construction phase in 2010) the teams are simultaneously actively participating in international competitions in estonia and other countries as well. below is one of their recent competition entries, the subject being the new town hall of tallinn.

the building would have created an iconic, 65 meters tall landmark in the skyline of tallinn. similarly to the eaa, the town hall is pushed into heights, a concept which in this case did not bring much success. the jury thought the building to be too tall and out of scale, furthermore, the pyramid-shape was considered functionally and logistically too complicated. full description will follow after a short intro in estonian.



eka uue maja autorid - taani noored arhitektid büroodest sea ja effekt - on pärast võidukat eka konkurssi end eestiga üha enam sidunud ning võtnud osa ka raekoja ning pärdi kontserdimaja konkurssidest. suuremat edu nad küll saavutanud pole, kuid vähemalt on töödega pakutud päris põnevaid lahendusi, mistõttu saavad need siingi esitletud.

taanlaste nägemus tallinna uuest raekojast lähtub soovist luua ikooniline maamärk, mis saavutatakse sarnaselt eka-ga vägagi riskantselt kõrgusse pürgides. hoone vorm lähtub lihtsast horisontaalse mahuga kastist, millest tuletatud kaks torni - «twin peaks» - raamivad vaateid linnahallilt vanalinnale ja vastupidi ning moodustavad nende vahele puutepunktid maapinnaga, läbi mille hoone mastaapsus oluliselt väheneb. jääb küll selgusetuks, kas hoone saanuks siis ronitavaks või mitte.

žürii raportis ei leidu projekti kohta ühtegi head sõna. kavandatud hoone oli otsustajate hinnangul mõõtkavast väljas ja liiga kõrge (65 meetrit! - see on meetri võrra kõrgem kui raekoda vanalinnas), püramiidjat vormi peeti sellise paljukorruselise hoone puhul funktsionaalselt ja logistiliselt liialt komplitseerituks, lisaks poldud rahul fassaadiga, mis vaid teeskleb olevat kandev - kusjuures vastupidiselt autorite eka projektiga. kriitikat sai ka ulatuslik klaasfassaadide kasutamine, mis on säästlikkust taotlevale hoonele sobimatu. mäletatavasti kummitas (või kummitab siiani?) sama probleem ka eka-t.

probleemidele vaatamata on tegemist ülimalt efektse tööga, mis - kui vaadata vaid vormi - oleks tallinna siluetile palju juurde andnud. unesco virina saatel, muidugi.

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the historical town hall

the original town hall building located in the heart of tallinn has an impressive history of over 700 years of architectural changes and improvements. originally it was a low rise building slowly growing in size and appearance over the centuries. the tower was added in the 17th century strengthening the iconic appearance of the building in the growing cityscape. thereby the typology changed into a building that does two equally important things. it has a body which relates to the streets and urban spaces and at the same time the tower rises to become an urban landmark that can be seen from the rest of the city.





a new landmark

we propose to create a new town hall that combines these qualities in an integrated design. the new building combines the need for viable urban spaces as well as iconic qualities branding the city. it will be an important landmark that both represent the power structure and act as a guiding icon in tallinn’s new cityscape. it’s both rational and humanistic at the same time. it combines the need for a sustainable and energy efficient building with the need for a sculptural landmark with beautiful experiences.

the twin peaks

the shape of the twin peaks is created by a simple gesture. two corners are lifted into towers and two corners touch the ground. it creates a unique triangulated building that offers a variety of experiences depending on where you see it from. the shape gives experiences in both micro and macro scale. on one hand the building becomes an iconic landmark that can be identified from afar in the skyline and along the coastline. at the same time it also slopes down to the ground connecting to the surrounding urban spaces in a dialogue with the context and human scale.



a sustainable building

the new town hall positioned outside the old city centre is a cornerstone in the transformation of the harbour front. at the same time in close dialogue with the cityscape and the landscape. the scale of the site, context and programme gives the possibility of a larger, compact and sustainable building. a building that is easily accessible by car, public transportation or by foot from the old city centre. we propose a compact building typology opened by large atriums providing energy efficiency as well as good daylight conditions and indoor climate.



sustainable design

integrated design

a sustainable and healthy building with a minimum of the energy consumption and co² emissions can be achieved through an integrated design process. the integrated design process includes multidisciplinary collaboration and workshops with participation of key stakeholders, design professionals and the users. in the design process evaluation of design variables are investigated with regard to architecture, functionality, and environmental issues such as resources, indoor climate and energy consumption.



energy optimization

when it comes to energy issues, the close relation between the thermal and visual comfort, indoor air quality and the energy required for operating the building is the key to a successful design, where sustainability is embedded in the design. the indoor climate also has direct impact on the quality of life, comfort, health and well being of the occupants of a building. the building has been designed with focus on reducing the energy demand for heating, lighting and ventilation by a compact building design, usage of passive solar gains, daylight and efficient technologies. furthermore it is possible to implement energy producing components such of solar cells or hot water solar collectors.

interior layout.

esimene korrus | entrance level

neljas korrus | 3rd level

kuues korrus | 5th level

façade engineering

the building envelope and transparent areas are designed and engineered in order to create a well insulated and air tight boundary to the surrounding climate. the façade scheme, where glazed and blinded areas can be randomly placed in between the overall façade grid, allows enhanced modelling of the façade properties in order to create the optimal balance between daylight utilization, the prevention of overheating by solar irradiation, and insulation. hence it is possible to optimise the façade properties in accordance to the orientation and the demand, expatiations and usage of the different rooms behind the façade.

west façade.

east façade.

north façade.

dailight utilization and artificial lighting

the façades are modelled in order to create high daylight utilization and distribution of daylight to the deeper parts of the building. in connection with the use of an effective daylight controlled artificial lightning system this will effectively reduce the significant energy consumption for electrical lighting.







climate regulation

high thermal mass and effective climate regulations systems and strategies reduce energy consumption and at the same time insures a good indoor climate. ventilation and climate regulation are performed by system specifically designed to the different parts of the building. atriums and large areas are ventilated by natural ventilation. during summer where solar irradiation and rising temperatures demands ventilation, natural ventilation insures an effective ventilation with a minimum of electrical energy consumption. in office areas and other heavily populated areas mechanical ventilation with an effective heat recovery creates a good thermal and atmospherics environment without creating a large energy demand heating of supply air.

081: tallinna uue raekoja konkursitöö

summary: an entry in the 2009 competition for the new town hall of tallinn, done by the austrian / portuguese practice zinterl architekten. titled «green verve», the project was considered to be of great professional quality and functionally well thought through, although visually resembling too much to a sports facility. the jury also made comments on its lavish use of open space, which is ironically one of the main ideas and best feats in this project. full description to follow after an intro in estonian.

p.s. - a big thanks to antonio catita soeiro for the materials!

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eesti väikeses arhitektuurimaailmas toimub harva rahvusvahelisi konkursse, mis meelitavad kohalikega mõõtu võtma terve plejaadi välisarhitekte. selliste konkursside toimumise korral on need väljakad küll suures osas sellised, kes end veel kehtestanud pole ning seda tõenäoliselt ka kunagi ei tee (vt nt rakvere pauluse konkurss), kohati saabub aga võistlema erialaringkondades küllaltki tuntud tegijaid, teinekord ka päris korralike portfooliote ning kogemustepagasiga meie mõistes suurkorporatsioone erinevatest riikidest. ühe sellisena võttis tallinna uue raekoja konkursist osa austria päritolu ning ka portugalis tegev suurbüroo zinterl architekten.

žürii raporti kohaselt on töö nimega «green verve» näol tegemist professionaalse, läbitöötatud ja äärmiselt funktsionaalse plaanilahendusega projektiga. paraku meenutavat see liialt mõnda spordirajatist, olles linna poole väga suletud fassaadiga. peab tunnistama, et võrreldes nt võidutööga puudub siin raekojale paslik sümbolväärtus. lisaks pakkusid töö autorid kasuliku pinna kõrval liiga palju avatud ruumi, mis tegelikult on ju projekti üks kandvaid ideid ning mis realiseerununa oleks hoonesse kindlasti väga mõnusa ja parajalt efektsegi atmosfääri loonud. kui pisut võõristav vorm välja arvata, on tegemist päris sümpaatse projektiga, seda eelkõige oma "maja majas" kontsepti poolest.

seletuskiri tuleb inglises, nii et kui kedagi peaks lähemalt huvitama, närigu läbi.

objectives:

_reactivate a remote plot as starting point for the further urban development.
_improvement of the relationships between city-center and waterfront.
_expansion of the ensemble of the tallinn city hall and the cultural couldron with a landmark.
_consideration of the culteral heritage surroundings.
_construction of an unique common building for the different administration-facilities.
_enhancement of functional processes and increase of energy-efficiency.

solutions:

_creation of an emblematic building for the city administration.
_new arrangement of the urban context, e.g. public squares and roads and path network.
_formal integration into the surroundings with simultaneous retention of an autonomous identification.
_establishment of an independent architectural object spatially integrated in the environment.
_preservation of urban prospects due limitation of building height.
_establishment of an open and transparent building with simultaneously high weather protection.
_integration of technical and functional courses in a individual big form.

concept:

development of the urban construction of tallinn has always been very closely related to the development of sea and ports. thus the new government building also orientates itself towards the nearby green waterfront. in the interplay with the special situation the architectural proposal results from the innovative formation at the interface between city and the open space. the exceptional form is however not only pure attraction, it makes also a highly economic utilization possible.

the idea comes from the nature and describes a curved landscape. being more a sculptural object than a building, it takes regard to the monumentality of the city hall and the proximity to the industrial cultural cauldron. the dynamic shape mediates protection and security. it takes consequently the formal elements of the city hall, but interprets them in a current manner.

the building is conceived as house in a house. a massive comb-shaped part ist covered by a lightweight roof. the glazed sides offer a great view on the cultural heritage on both sides. together with the new administration building of the tallink company and the stairways of the city hall a new urban place is created.

beneath the great roof are nine trapeze-shaped winter-gardens. their function is to create a buffer zone between the inner building and the outside-area. they also widen the outside moreover optically and let the exterior run into the building. these partially green areas can be differently treated concerning their atmosphere and themes. the distinction of these interior spaces offer orientation and identification for employees and visitors. between the two façade-layers a clima-buffer with sound-protection skills is formed. it allows to aerate the offices and reduce the heating costs consequently.





in the yards disturbing influences like rain, wind, noise and emissions are eliminated so that horizontal sun-protection also becomes possible outside in a high-rise building. moreover, the building can probably be operated without use of technical air-conditioning.



ten trapeze-shaped office-fingers that touch the outside skin of the building come from the communication-spine in the middle. five stair-cores, each for two sections, lie directly at the main-axis, provide short ways and good attainability of each individual area. two staircases drive into the most uppermost levels with decrease inferior public-traffic. the curved form of the roof, that formally appears separately from the structure under it, creates big green terraces, that serve for communication and recreation.


functions:

the wintergardens serve as main-entrances to the new administration-building. the lobbies are forming enlivened and green "display windows", that are not only perceived as attractive eye-catchers at day and night, but are also agreeable atmospheres for the employees in the house. the four yards facing east are intended for the public audience. the west situated, smaller yards are the accesses for the employees and the separated entrances of public related departments. also the above ground parking, the delivery, the entrance for the parking-garage and the drive-up are here.



the public area on the ground floor can be opened on demand into a big interrelated multi-functional space, for example for bigger events or exhibitions. the city-archive which is at the end of the communication-spine has also an independent access northwards.

further archive-areas are in the basement and can be reached directly by three staircases from the departments in the upper floors. in the south the parking-garage stretches partially under the new city square. an area for technical equipement is situated centrally and distributes installations over one lengthwise proceeding technology-spine. the first floor is completely intended for the city office. in the northern part, an event-area and study-zones are connected by a great void with the city-archives under it.

basement floor.

ground floor.

in the further upper floors the different departments are accommodated without losing their individual autonomy. the organisation in the comb-structure allows in ideal manner to offer different office-structures, from the singles-office as far as to the open-plan office. consequently a flexible division and sustainable utilization is guaranteed. the width of the house makes it possible to order archives or printer-areas in the inner communication-zones as well as kitchenettes and meeting points. the huge open spaces with freestanding furniture create a generous work-atmosphere.

the green terraces at the ends of the corridor serve as additional communication-zones as well as locations for events and recreation. all these aspects follow the claim to create a modern building, offering space for the communication between the citizens of tallinn and their officials.

1st floor.

2nd floor.

3rd floor.

4th floor.

5th floor.

6th floor.

technological concept:

an effective sun-protection outside the office-spaces prevents the penetration of unintentional heat in the summer. the undisguised concrete-ceilings provide storage capacity for heating and refrigeration, a balance of the inner climate. conventional radiators should be mainly avoided. aim in the course of the planning was to take advantage of the geometry of the building with utilization of regenerative energies and to minimize energy demands and their required technology.

beside the energetic advantages, the winter gardens offer a high quality of abidance giving space for special events like exhibitions and parties. the ten huge green-areas and the terraces provide a harmonic balance between the working world and the nature. working places got the experience of the nature from each desk, so that the highest claims for a modern working-world are fulfilled.







principal structures:

the clear formal attitude of the building is seen in the inside, and above all, in its constructive structure. the building consists essentially of two elements. the structure of the office-comb is produced with reinforced concrete: flat-slabs lie on ferro-concrete supports with constant grid and an economic span. the pillars lead into the basement without displacement. the staircases are also a structural element. the construction-system is conclusively and without constructive peculiarities from below to the top. the separation of construction and facade allows prefabrication of the facade-elements already during the preparation of the structural work.

the structure of the roof is produced with an gluelam-trusses framework that can partially be produced in prefabrication. it is supported by v-shaped steel-bearings along the outside-façades. loads are derived additionally in the interior by steel-concrete supports extending to upward.



the glass shield cladding the great space is proposed as windtight transparent glazed skin with double thermal insulating glass. the façade construction elements consist of adjustable flat stainless steel posts, adapting to the building geometry. the glazing joints are designed as compact inside glass fixings systems in order to provide a fair-faced and smooth façade surface. these few construction elements, stainless steel posts, stainless steel glass connections to the sub-structure, steel bracket connections to the gallery, represent a highly evaluated low-tech façade construction, efficiently and precisely answering the geometrical and technical requirements.

economical considerations:

the compact design and the prefabricated façade-elements provide creatively and functionally an efficient preparation of the building. the minimization of the simple corridors in the combs save space in favor of the greater communication-mall, that serves as main entrance. leaving the public areas in the ground floor avoid huge lobbys in the upper floors. fire protection-sections are easy to realize. optional office-areas are attainable in short way.







finishing materials:

the roof consists of several materials. in the southern area, it is spoiled with sheet metal-plates and in the upper area, photovoltaics and solar-collectors are installed. in the flat area in the northern part a green roof is intended. the longitudinal-façades are conceived as heat-absorbing double-glazing. for the interior-façades are intended horizontal glass-sheets with single-glazing. they stay on a steel-concrete-parapet and can be opened manually for natural ventilation.

the grounds in strongly frequented areas are executed in flagstones, the office-areas get a resistant and sound-absorbing carpet flooring. the slabs, so far they used for thermal concrete core activation, keeps the concrete-character, the other ceilings and walls gets a finery-layer as well as paint. sound-protection is regulated individually on demand with sound-protection-sails. doors are executed in wood, office-dividers get a clearstory at ceiling-height.



environmental sustainability and building efficiency:

because the dimension of the competition-scope merely the essential parameters with influence to operational costs are listed as follws. beside all technical parameters it is essentially necessary that people feel cozy in all parts of the building.

the load on the environment is mainly influenced by how much energy a building requires. here, attention to early coordination of the façade, individual parts of the building, thermal qualities of the building and the cooling and heating systems is important, particularly:
─optimum of heat insulation and sun-shading.
─reducing solar loads by optimizing the use of daylight.
─use of solid building materials (storage mass).
─night-time cooling in summer for example with thermal concrete core activation (systems of water pipes in concrete ceilings).
─use of buffer zones.