Villa Mähe-Kaasiku

Location: Mähe-Kaasiku, Tallinn, Estonia

Year: 2010

Status: Concept Design

Size: 549 m²

Program: Private residence

Project team: Andres Alver (architect)

Description:

The villa is open in two directions: towards Tallinn bay and towards the garden on the south side of the site.

Trying to set a better precedent for the masterplanning paradigm of the area, where all the neighboring buildings are crammed way too densely, the building is placed at the southern edge of the site, overlooking Mähe-Kaasiku street, and trying to leave as large open area to the garden in the middle of the site as possible.

To avoid living “under the neighbor’s surveillance”, the middle of the site is visually protected by a garden pavilion, pergola and a wall, resulting in a “park within a park”, and enabling all the neighbors to mutually retain their privacy.

The faces of the building are arranged in a way allowing for views of the Tallinn silhouette. The western facade is finished in frosted glass to protect it from the unpleasant north-western winds.

The project was discontinued after the neighbors’ complaints, and the supreme court decision that the building is “architecturally unsuitable” to the area, and “harrowing” the neighbors with its walls.