Zaha Hadid Architects to masterplan Tallinn's Old City Harbor 2030 redevelopment

As the main entry point to Estonia for countless ferries and cruise ships every year, Tallinn’s Old City Harbor will soon undergo major reconstruction and development until 2030. Out of three finalist teams, Zaha Hadid Architects had the winning proposal to develop the port's 2030 Masterplan. The Port of Tallinn launched the competition last year to find the most fitting long-term solution that will: serve as the basis for property development in the port area, improve the port's connectivity with the surrounding city, and transform the area into an accessible, vibrant urban space.

The competition jury picked ZHA's proposal, “Streaming City”, for the way it connected with the existing city and for its strong real estate and logistics analysis. The jury also noted the proposal's practicality and innovation.

“Zaha Hadid have very skillfully created a balanced connection between urban space and the port area with some carefully considered access roads and traffic solutions,” said Valdo Kalm, the chairman of the Port of Tallinn management board, in a statement. “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.”

The Port of Tallinn is aiming to have the development plan ready by the end of this year. Once that's set, suitable business models will be developed and Zaha Hadid Architects will work on designing the masterplan in more detail. If all goes smoothly, the project will be complete by 2030.

ZHA will collaborate with Latvian architecture practice 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.

Check out ZHA's project boards in the gallery below to read more about their proposal.