The Port of Tallinn has launched an architectural design competition for the Passenger Terminal A Quarter

An architectural design competition launched by The Port of Tallinn seeks the best architectural idea for the new Terminal A and the parking house of Tallinn Old City Harbour and the new office building for Port of Tallinn, and the surrounding public urban space.

Valdo Kalm, CEO of the Port of Tallinn, aims to bring the city to the port, creating an opportunity for city residents and tourists to spend quality time in the city centre by the sea in the Old City Harbour areas. “The project aims to offer a versatile new welcoming place that provides a pleasant stay in an exciting urban space and an experience of visiting buildings with outstanding architecture. For those arriving by sea, it is an eye-catching gateway to Estonia. For those from the countryside, it is a friendly gateway to the world.”

The architects participating in the competition are expected to provide a representative, comprehensive design that considers the low carbon footprint and meets all the requirements of a modern metropolitan area. They should also consider that the Old City Harbour is Estonia’s most important and biggest sea gateway, with more than 10 million people passing through it annually.

The architectural competition

The architectural competition for Terminal A Quarter will occur in two phases and be open and anonymous. The first phase will involve selecting up to ten participants based on their previous work in the design competition by jury.

The jury, chaired by Hele-Mai Metsal, Head of the Development Department of the Port of Tallinn, will comprise architects Aet Ader, Ülar Mark, and Emil Urbel from the Estonian Association of Architects, Maarja Gustavson from the Estonian Association of Landscape Architects, Kevin Villem from Tallinn Strategic Management Office, and Riho Joala, Head of the Project Management Department from the Port of Tallinn.

In the second phase the 10 selected ones will be invited to submit a design proposal anonymously. The jury will evaluate the proposed ideas in the second phase, and a winner will be selected. Each chosen participant in the second phase will receive a fee of €8,000.

The deadline for submission of documents for the first stage of the competition via the Public Procurement Register is 14.04.2023 at 12.00.

Following the selection of the design competition winner, the Port of Tallinn will organize a negotiated procedure without prior publication to award a contract for preparing a comprehensive construction design documents based on the winning design using the general contracting method. The estimated value of the awarded agreement, excluding VAT, is EUR 2 million. The timeframe for the subsequent call for tenders and the completion of the new building will depend on the detailed planning process for Terminal A and the cruise terminal area.

The design works are carried out within the framework of the organization of the “Architectural competition for the Terminal A Quarter”, and the award of the contract to the winner of the competition will be co-financed by the European Union within the framework of the Connecting Europe Facility project No 101079738 – 21-EU-TG-TWIN-PORT V – CEF-T-2021-SUSTMOBGEN.