Nordic Hotel Forum

Nordic Hotel Forum is located in a prominent location of Tallinn – between the Old Town and the city centre. The hotel’s simple rectangular volume stands on the edge of the vibrant Rotermanni Quarter, a former industrial area which has seen much urban redevelopment in this century, and helps direct people to it  and also increases urban density, a corner-stone of busy urban life.

The lower part of the main facade steps back from the street and creates a small urban plaza in front of the building. 

Distribution of interior spaces within the building is rational: public facilities and conference rooms are mainly on lower floors and hotel suites on higher levels. Among other prominent spaces, the top floor facilitates a spa with its excellent views towards the mediaeval Old Town.

The hotel building is based on the detailed plan and wishes of the client. The client sought a building that would have a classical, peaceful feel and fit a rather tight budget. A new building on Viru Square that had been finished on the basis of the same detailed plan and a completely unsettled area to the north of the building had to be taken into account as well. Based on the aforesaid, a peaceful building body subdivided by numerous smaller recesses was chosen.

One of the important architectural ideas was to cover the facades of the building with designer graphics in macro scale that were unique at the time in Estonia, as the building can be observed from a great distance. A contest was held among the best young designers of Estonia for this purpose. As a result of great disputes and discussions, the design of Andres Rohtla and Anne Pikkov was chosen, depicting Estonian brushwood in perspective. A person looking at the work from up close can perceive that the picture is formed of surfaces subdivided by various animals and birds of our forests as well as small winged creatures from a lovely dream. The motif also covers the hotel interior, including the decor and even the business cards of the company. Identity created, anonymity abolished!