zaha hadid architects to transform tallinn's old city harbour with 'streamcity' proposal

Today the jury in the Masterplan competition for the Old City Harbour in Tallinn revealed the architectural bureau that will draw up the development plans for the harbour by the end of this year.   The winner among the three finalists in the Masterplan 2030 competition for ideas was Zaha Hadid Architects.

Valdo Kalm, the chairman of the management board of the Port of Tallinn, says the winning entry stood out for its innovative and integrated approach to Tallinn’s maritime gateway.

“Zaha Hadid have very skilfully created a balanced connection between urban space and the port area with some carefully considered access roads and traffic solutions,” he said.   “What stands out in their designs are the diagonals running through them of the pedestrian footpaths, around which a very diverse and memorable city space has been established.   Interesting details include the water features they’ve designed along Reidi Street and their partial –and very smooth and effective raising of the areas for pedestrians up to another level. Adding to the overall feel of integration in their designs is the urban square and greenery they’ve come up with for the area around Admiralty Basin, stretching all the way from the front of Terminal A to the front of Terminal D. Their entry was also marked out by strong logistics and property development analysis and a convincing and realistic projection of the implementation of the Masterplan stage by stage.”

In making their selection the jury assessed the entries for their compliance with the competition task set for this stage. Among other aspects, they evaluated how well the ideas worked with the surrounding environment, how well thought through the connections were between the port and the city, how fresh and innovative the solutions were and how feasible it would be to realise the ideas.

The objective of the Port of Tallinn in working with Zaha Hadid Architects is to complete the Masterplan 2030 for the Old City Harbour by the end of 2017. Once this has been done, detailed plans will be commissioned and suitable business models elaborated for the implementation of developments.

The Port of Tallinn launched the competition for ideas for the development plans or Masterplan 2030 for the Old City Harbour in 2016 with the aim of finding a comprehensive, longterm solution to form the basis for property development in the port area and to connect city and public space with the functions of the port. The Port of Tallinn plans to introduce more urban development to the Old City Harbour alongside its port functions and to transform the area into an urban space that is both attractive and easy to traverse.

Zaha Hadid Architects are an internationally renowned architectural bureau based in London. They have extensive experience in the designing of major projects, the planning of waterfront city space and the drawing up of masterplans. Their most notable works include the One North Masterplan (Singapore), Salerno Maritime Terminal (Italy), Antwerpen Port House (Belgium), the Bilbao Zorrozaure Port Area Masterplan (Spain), the Milano City Life Residences (Italy) and Shanghai Sky Soho (China).

When drawing up the development plans for Talllinn Old City Harbour, the Zaha Hadid Architects will work together with the following partners: Latvian architectural bureau RemPro as a regional partner, Tyrens UK as a consultant for urban, landscape, sustainability and traffic planning, Colliers Estonia and RLB UK as a consultant for real estate and cost and VA-Render for visuals.

The Old City Harbour Masterplan jury consists of Valdo Kalm (chairman of the management board of the Port of Tallinn), Hele Mai Metsal (director of the Infrastructure Development Department of the Port of Tallinn), Endrik Mänd (chief architect of the City of Tallinn), Peeter Pere (vicechairman of the Estonian Association of Architects) and Ülar Mark (a member of the Estonian Association of Architects).

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