Uus-Veerenni Park Invites Movement and Reading

Merko created a public park area of over 8,500 square meters in the Uus-Veerenni quarter with play attractions, urban sculptures, a rest area, and a reading corner. The new park added to Tallinn's urban space values biodiversity and the idea of reuse and is designed for use by both Uus-Veerenni residents and visitors.

"We approach the creation of living environments holistically. In addition to professional architectural solutions and quality construction, Merko places great emphasis on the quality of the living environment created around buildings and the opportunities that a residential quarter offers to its residents on site. In the Uus-Veerenni park, our goal was to create a full-value and diverse urban space oriented toward the community, where there are activities for people of different ages. The completed park area is a combination of smart sustainable solutions, play and rest areas, art, and an outdoor library inspired by the recently concluded year of libraries," explained Uus-Veerenni quarter development manager Alar Toomik.

The new public park is located in central Tallinn between Merko's Uus-Veerenni quarter and the buildings along Vana-Lõuna Street. The park area begins behind the apartment buildings at Pille 4 and extends to the former machine hall of the Luther furniture factory, now the Äripäev building.

The park was designed by KINO Landscape Architects. The same office also created the courtyard solution for the residential buildings of the first phase of Uus-Veerenni, which won the Landscape Architects Association annual award in 2020.

"The idea of the Uus-Veerenni park is based on sustainability and reuse. The aim was to value above all the local material – so the layers of the former industrial land have been cleverly used, such as asphalt and concrete, as well as metal structures. This park is very likely one of the first examples in Estonian landscape architecture where waste on such a large scale has found new use in an exposed manner," described the park's history landscape architect Mirko Traks.

While you can get a better overview of the greenery and reuse solutions as spring arrives after the snow melts, the Uus-Veerenni park offers various leisure activities year-round. Children can have fun on the play attractions and adults can relax in the fresh air.

The park features a reading corner with bookshelves, benches, and reading lamps. Interesting works can be found for both adults and children – you can read on site or take a book home to return it later or add a new work to the bookshelf instead. To make the urban space more fun, animal heads created by artist Jass Kaselaan have been set up in the park – a sculptural artwork with the collective title "Toys".

The park's greenery is based on the principles of supporting biodiversity. The park uses semi-natural plant communities that provide habitats and food for insects and birds. Existing vegetation has been preserved as much as possible, which creates a connection to the past and gives the park character. Additionally, newly planted shrubs and trees are suitable and resilient for the urban environment, while creating a cozy and homely atmosphere.

In parallel with the construction of the park area, Merko also completed Tiiu Street. While residential associations take care of the courtyard areas in the immediate vicinity of the Uus-Veerenni residential buildings, the public streets, infrastructure, and park area are handed over to the City of Tallinn, which will be responsible for the daily maintenance of the infrastructure and facilities.

The Uus-Veerenni development area is approximately 12 hectares in size. In the quarter being completed in stages (merko.ee/veerenni), there will be approximately 50 residential buildings. To date, residents have moved into 26 buildings and 12 buildings are under completion. A kindergarten will be completed in the quarter this summer and plans for the future include building a commercial building.