Kärdla, Estonia
Bornstein Lyckefors Arkitekter along with Mareld Landscape has completed the new Kärdla City Pavilion for the Hiiumaa Municipality Government located on Dagö Island just off the west coast of Estonia as one of several projects that were initiated to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the nation’s declaration of independence.
As the only city on Dagö Island, Kärdla is characterized by urban sprawl.
The project initiators wanted to concentrate public life around the central square adding a number of programs in order to reduce distances and create new flows in the city.
The proposal by Bornstein Lyckefors and Mareld, won in a competition, introduced a market pavilion including landscape architecture as an urban element to break down the size of the larger urban void.
The layout of the pavilion is built on the idea of “hortus conclusus,” the enclosed garden.
It is a concentrated space, void, and container of space and landscape, a framework to relate to in the construction of the wider urban landscape.
The walls surrounding the inside serve only as a backdrop to the park.
While the urban interior of the space is reduced from the program and left as a space for contemplation, the exterior is filled with programs to activate the surrounding square.
A former street market, an urban stage, and an info center are now house in the new pavilion.
The structure is entirely built from wood with platform walls and ceiling crossbars mounted together in a semi-transparent manner.
Wooden pieces that create distance between the bars are placed in a pattern that resembles and pays tribute to those used in the former textile industry that was once the largest industry of Kärdla.
The roof is covered with sheets of glass which enhance the sensation of being covered in a semi-transparent and delicate wooden fabric.
Over time, the wood will lose its color and blend in with the street, the enclosed garden will become dense and green, and the city may densify even further.
In the end, what will remain in the middle is a precious green space, the Kärdla Bouquet Park.
Project: Kärdla City Pavilion
Architects: Bornstein Lyckefors Arkitekter AB
Design Team: Andreas Lyckefors, Johan Olsson, Angelina Kjellén, Petr Herman, Johan Häggqvist, Martin Allik, and Oskar Ivarsson
Landscape Architects: MARELD Landskapsarkitekter
Client: Hiiumaa Vallavalitsus (Hiiumaa Municipality Government)
Photographers: Tiit Veermae
