In an international design competition, British architecture firm Zaha Hadid Architects was chosen to design the new terminal station for Rail Baltica in Tallinn, Estonia.
Rail Baltica, Europe’s new electrified high-speed railway line, will span 870km and connect Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. This new station will be the starting point of the railway line.
The competition, hosted by Rail Baltic Estonia, sought sustainable and pedestrian-friendly design concepts for the transformation of an existing station in the city’s Ülemiste area. Once complete, it will include a hub for national, international and local rail services, along with buses, trams and coaches next to the city’s airport, according to Lonely Planet.
The transit hub is designed according to BREAAM guidelines, a sustainability assessment method for master-planning projects, infrastructure and buildings through third-party certification of the assessment of an asset’s environmental, social and economic sustainability performance. The architects will work with Estonian design company Esplan.
‘I am more than convinced that the area is becoming one of the most attractive and, in terms of infrastructure, synergistic in Tallinn. A true multi-modal transport hub is emerging, with rail, bus and air traffic coming together there in the future,’ says Taavi Aas, Estonia’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure.
The station is said to have a specifically ultra-modern, ‘space-age’ design and will grant easy, convenient access to neighbouring countries to local and international travellers.
Image: Instagram/ Zaha Hadid Architects
