Bekker Port is a cargo port at the western coast of Kopli peninsula in Tallinn. For the urbanization of the area, KTA has proposed a design that blends into the existing urban fabric and enhances the local qualities. 
The story of Bekker port is influenced mainly by two features &#8211; the shoreline and industrial heritage. The scale of the proposal is rather that of a district. We were able to contemplate upon hybrid multifunctional anchor objects, 15-minute city and how to design a resilient city. 
We have used a wide variety of building and street typologies. Urban density has been laid out so that the centre and seaside promenade would provide sufficient flows of people and movement for the ground floor cafes, restaurants and boutiques as well as bigger stores, gyms, spas and movie theatres. While the middle of the district is active and lively, the edges of the area can be reserved for peaceful residential blocks. 
Bekker Quarter has an ideal scale for the residents to reach everywhere on foot and bicycle in 15 minutes &#8211; comfortably and safely. A car is not obligatory &#8211; it is only needed for longer trips or for transporting inventory. All the services are to be situated in the area. A future tramline will connect the district with the rest of the city. 
The anchor points in the area are built around the existing industrial heritage. The concrete slipway was formerly used as a boat ramp. It is to be converted into a public facility, a Spa, with a surrounding park. There is another major public building proposed at the waterfront, codenamed Opera. As Estonia is looking for a location for a new opera-house, this could serve the need.

Team

Bekker Port masterplan

The Manufactory Quarter is a conversion project of a former textile industry premises into a mixed-use urban district. The area will accommodate housing, offices, restaurants, retail and services. The public space between the buildings will be completely car-free and designed to enable outdoor activities for every age group. KTA will be designing the reconstruction of the spinning and knitting factory to become a residential building. The public space will be prepared together with the studio Molumba who will be designing a couple of new apartment blocks into the district.

Landscape

Project Manager

Project website

The Manufactory Quarter

A dense, compact block of housing, office, retail and hotel is situated in the sub-centre of Tallinn city, next to one of the main access roads to downtown. The complex is a strong contribution to the urbanization of the semi-industrial belt around the city. Comprised of volumes of varying height, it is a bold landmark in one of the focal points of the neighbourhood.

Interior design

Landscape design

Engineering

Vektor

The competition entry for the reconstruction of the Tallinn Central Market was commissioned as a new type of marketplace. The modern market is a shopping and entertainment centre that accommodates an abundance of functions and provides a spatial structure corresponding to those functions. 
The spatial identity of the market is defined by the arched wooden construction. The arcade is a reference to the multitude of historic public buildings with vaulted ceilings that have been used for larger programmatic needs &#8211; like markets, temples, railway stations, churches and palaces. The lofty roofed public facility has layers that can be passed through via interior and exterior space.

Central Market of Tallinn

The architecture of the entire pavilion is based on the idea that it should create the best conditions for holding various performances, exhibitions, actions and presentations. The pavilion will not be formed for form’s sake but rather a framework for content that will bring the building to life.
The architectural premise for the pavilion will be a space with a clear identity, enabling visitors to get an idea of what Estonia is about. The pavilion is structured as a gallery of nature and creativity.
The pavilion composes of “nestboxes” stacked off-centre like cubes, forming the main volume of the building towards the Russian pavilion and along the side of the road inside the quarter. 
A “nestbox” is a high room creating a chamber-like sectioned-off compartment of space.
After the event, the pavilion can be deconstructed and assembled somewhere else, or from the components, other functional structures can be made (bus stop, children’s playground, etc.).
The pavilion is very open to the public. The central opening of “Gallery of_” towards the south, Decumanus, entry from which, under a high, lofty awning, along with the spacious interior creates a powerful experience. Additionally, there will be entrances from the plaza to the north and between boxes from the street.

Project management

Graphic design

Builder

Photography

EXPO Milan 2015

Department store Kvartal is situated in a very prominent area. Historically the city block consisted of low-rise private houses and smaller apartment buildings built out of wood and stone. The block was functionally diverse – there was living, working and leisure all mixed into one. During the march bombings of Tartu in the World War II, the buildings were destroyed. Former city block consisting of smaller buildings was replaced with a more monumental volume and a new approach to urban planning arose. Small-town scale slowly shifted, a new paradigm emerged and paved the way for larger volumes.
To re-create the city centre we thought it was important to divide the big building both horizontally and vertically into smaller volumes. We created powerlines such as cornices, the height of the roofs, street line and so on, making sure not to repeat the past mistakes. The solution avoids the addition of one more monotonous and unarticulated building volume to already congested cityscape. The goal was to bring back the human–scale building, which would be worthy of its location and wouldn’t resemble shopping malls which are located on the outskirts of Central European cities.
The varied and articulated facade is achieved with a simple programmatic method, where residential and office blocks are wrapped around the commercial core. Such placement leaves better views to the residential and office units while the commercial area that does not need direct light from the windows, will be minimized on the outer layers of the building.
The architectural concept of the project is derived from an urban planning idea, where the department store is wrapped inside the residential and office volumes. The complex, which core consists of the commercial and outer layer from residential and office parts, is a layered structure, which offers different spacial experiences and surprising functional relationships in every layer. By playing with the program and bringing the residential and office units to the outer layer, we were able to make a department store with a lot of openings. Kvartal resembles a city block with diverse functions unlike the department buildings next to it. The large volume is articulated with different materials, details and functions.
Smaller and larger shops and restaurants open directly to the surrounding streets creating an intimate and active street milieu. Different functions have separate entrances on the basement and street level. Separate entrances lead to the offices, apartments, hotels, SPA and department store. These staircases are cross-used only in emergency situations.