Riina Uska, Director of Real Estate Office, said that when the need for a new academic building began to be discussed more actively in the summer of 2022, the city planning department advised thinking big. Thinking big is not possible under the current detailed plan, so a new — larger — one must be made. 

Three possible directions 

The first three big-picture visions were completed this spring to initiate discussions, and the Real Estate Office gathered feedback and comments from all interested parties. Uska emphasized that this was not the end of the planning process, but the beginning. Specifically, there were three main development directions to choose from: building along Ehitajate Road (currently large parking lots), along Akadeemia Road (beyond the economics building), or in the campus courtyard (while preserving the Academics' Alley and the Amphitheater).

From the digital discussion, Uska highlighted some noteworthy thoughts and comments. For example, the plan to move parking beneath buildings and replace the asphalt lots — a dusty field in spring, a heat island in summer, and a snow-clearing headache in winter — with something more valuable was praised. There was a desire for a pleasant promenade with cafés stretching from the NRG building to Tehnopol and MURG, which would also attract local residents to the campus. The plan to build along Akadeemia Road was commended, with the suggestion of including one striking building as a focal point. It was also pointed out that the visions lacked a metro station or another form of rapid public transport hub, which would be essential for efficient access to the university after the parking lots are removed.

The current plan is to add building volume along Akadeemia Road and possibly Ehitajate Road as well, leaving the green courtyard largely untouched. “A long façade that turns at the intersection and landmark in both directions will give the campus a more defined shape and clearer outline,” says Uska. According to her, the current and historic main building complex will definitely remain visible, even if new buildings with underground parking are constructed along Ehitajate Road. Riina Uska stated that the university plans to apply for a building permit from the city for new structures on the main university property between Ehitajate Road and Raja Street. The goal is to bring the faculties of science and IT closer to the main building and to add a startup hub to the campus. 

Open to meetings and ideas 

Oliver Alver, deputy head of the city planning department and guest lecturer at TalTech, presented his vision for campus development to the coffee morning participants. He contributed to the plan for building over the parking lots along Ehitajate Road by moving parking spaces underground. The work was also created by four TalTech students: Triin Mänd, Bretta Meryl Ruul, Terke Kram, and Ulrika Saar. The current auditorium and main building foyer, which are protected as cultural heritage, were also designed in the 1960s by the university's own graduates.

Alver compared the university to a shopping mall: both have a large parking lot in front, a big façade behind it, and long corridors inside with purposeful rooms where you can buy pants or education. In his opinion, it wouldn’t be very difficult to furnish the university building as a shopping mall or vice versa. But, “The world is changing, and so is commerce. It is clear that the old ‘gymnasium’ solution — a long narrow corridor with many closed classrooms — is falling apart,” Alver said.

He considered the most important thing to be spontaneous interactions between people, and to achieve that, spaces need to be opened up and fields physically brought closer together. He gave examples of large companies that are also building campuses where people can genuinely meet each other. Erik Puura and Lauri Anton cited the University of Tartu’s Delta building as a good example, where students and companies from different fields come together, and the building is always full of active people and good ideas.

As “acupuncture,” or quick tricks to improve the quality of being on campus, Alver suggested a few ideas: opening the first floor of the Student House toward the greenery behind the building; creating a bike parking area next to the main car park in place of warehouse buildings; bringing a grocery store to the first floor of the NRG building and the building at Akadeemia Road 11/2; making the first-floor terrace of the library usable; opening the first floor of the SOC building toward the courtyard; better lighting of the flag square; stronger marketing of the campus’s sports facilities; and equipping the campus borders with signs and markers to give a clearer sense of entering the campus. 

Walking trails in the forest, on the promenade, and on rooftops 

Alver pointed out that the proximity to green areas makes the TalTech campus the only location in Tallinn suitable for a university campus, because it has walking trails in the forest necessary for thinking activities.

Uska also talks about a pedestrian and light traffic promenade that will connect Mustamäe Secondary School, Tehnopol, and the university campus. “It is a landscape architectural solution that would make movement in the urban space better, more comfortable, and more human-centered,” Uska explains. This spring, the promenade’s preliminary design was presented both at the Mustamäe district government and the university campus; a longer news article about it can be read here. The promenade has six stages — two in Tehnopol and four in the TalTech campus — allowing the work and funding to be planned stage by stage. Uska does not rule out that the first works may be planned in next year’s budget.

Returning to the university campus’s detailed plan, the current phase only discusses building volumes and locations. Which fields or units will be placed in which buildings will be a topic for later discussions. At the coffee morning, the microphone was passed around very frequently. Ideas were proposed such as having green areas and walking trails on rooftops; that the campus should have a store selling flowers, office supplies, and tights; and a suggestion to erect a high-rise building that would stand out as a landmark from afar. Alver noted that considering valuable spontaneous encounters, a high-rise building is unsuitable for the learning environment, and when the idea of a Ferris wheel came up, he added that there are already three Ferris wheel applicants in Tallinn. When Hendrik Voll argued that EBS is building a high-rise downtown with plans to sell the upper floors as apartments to finance the construction, Alver hinted that TalTech’s sports hall is located in an ideal residential area and could help finance construction even without a high-rise.

According to Uska, the next step is to submit a detailed planning application to the city for the new buildings. Uska is also working on the Mustamäe campus vision for 2060, taking into account the university’s long-term strategy and vision. Next in line is preparing the assignment for the detailed plan of the laboratory and workshop campus area at the corner of Ehituse Mäemaja and Mektory, which is being done in cooperation with institute heads. 

The article was published in the Tallinn University of Technology magazine Mente et Manu.