Kaubamaja

The project is located on the edge of Tallinn's important historical centre, in a border position between the old city and the new financial and commercial suburbs. In this duality, we tried to respond to these two scales. The scale of the new city, regular and surrounded by towers, and the more distant scale, that of the historic centre, which will be visible from our building. Another adaptation to the scale of the surrounding city is the generation of a stepped green roof system that will create the fifth attractive façade that will be perceived from the surrounding buildings.
The project is considered as an ascending volume that generates continuity between the different heights permitted according to urban planning regulations. This continuity also responds to an idea of internal pathways and connection between the «worlds» inside the Kaubajama department store.

The new building is stepped and has as its minimum height the maximum height of the existing historic Kaubamaja building and, at its highest point, the maximum permitted height of 39.5 metres on the opposite side of the plot towards Ravala Avenue. This ascending building concept not only pursues the idea of a strong and radical building, but also gives us the possibility to generate a stepped and oblique atrium facing the Kaubamaja street and the possibility to have terraces at different levels facing the historic city centre.

The Kaubamaja building consists of two main atriums. Both atriums open onto the street, showing the inner life to the city. We understand these spaces as large windows to the city, multi-purpose spaces that will house cafés, exhibition spaces, art spaces or any kind of event or performance.

The two atriums are connected to create a continuous three-dimensional space which we have called «the gap» and which produces a «break» along the perimeter of the building. A three-dimensional glass space that opens Kaubamaja to the city and the city to Kaubamaja. This strategy aims to create a new customer experience that is not only limited to shopping, but also includes the creation of spaces for social interaction, strolling and enjoyment within the department store.

It is therefore a large building made up of several buildings. The facades of the Kaubamaja department store are made of aluminium panels in the purely commercial areas and glass in the communication areas («the gap») and other public areas. The office building is differentiated from the rest of the complex by a curved glass façade which provides a vibrant technological façade that creates a distinction from the rest of the project.