Lasnamäe Sports Hall
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Architect
Project team
Siiri Vallner, Hanno Grossschmidt, Tomomi Hayashi
Engineering
TA Konsult
Location
Punane 45, 13619 Tallinn
Size
8,134 m2
Status
Completed 2003
Client
Tallinn Sports and Youth Department
Photos
Kert Saarma
Typology
Tags

The sports hall is located in the outskirts of Tallinn, at the beginning of the soviet-era Lasnamägi housing area with apartment blocks made of the prefabricated concrete panels. In the 1990s, after the restoration of independence, Lasnamäe was a district where only new apartment buildings and commercial premises were built. One of the first buildings which added functional richness and environmental thinking to the standardized architecture of Lasnamäe was the athletics hall completed in 2003, which also includes a weights room, an aerobics room and rock-climbing facilities. The three-level part of the hall houses all the auxiliary rooms (changing rooms, equipment rooms, offices, etc.).
The size and shape of the building was prompted by the length and form of the running track; the big glass surfaces let a lot of sunlight into the interior. The entrance to the building is on the level of the second floor offering a good view of the arena; the ramp makes the movement smooth and organic. By its form and the use of concrete, the hall shows how to create sensitive spatial quality in the otherwise rectangular and featureless housing area.
The protruding elements on the exterior walls are equipped with wires for greenery to attach to. The wild ivy is to cover the building gradually, providing greenery in this area where there is very little of it. The face of the building will always change its appearance in a slow speed, representing steady and slow process of physical training.

