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An international architectural review to be commissioned for the preliminary design of Tallinn Hospital

An international architectural review to be commissioned for the preliminary design of Tallinn Hospital

Today, on October 10, the Tallinn Hospital Development Foundation’s council met to discuss the positions presented to the city by the Estonian Association of Architects (EAA) regarding the preliminary design of Tallinn Hospital. As a result of the discussion, the council decided to commission an additional international and independent architectural review. Consequently, the deadline for submitting bids for the Tallinn Hospital design tender has been extended to January 20, 2025.

“The goal for Tallinn is to ensure the necessary investments in the city's medical infrastructure are made. Multiple meetings have been held with the EAA representatives to discuss the design tender, and it was concluded that, under the current circumstances, it is reasonable to consider the EAA’s viewpoint and commission an additional review of the architectural aspects of the preliminary design. This will provide valuable input, ensuring that the tender participants can offer the most precise solutions,” explained Deputy Mayor Karl Sander Kase. “At the same time, we continue discussions with the state to reach a concrete agreement on the project’s funding,” added Kase.

The purpose of building the Tallinn Hospital is to replace the existing old, mostly over 50-year-old, deteriorating buildings with a modern medical campus. The goal is to close down the old East and West Tallinn Central Hospital buildings and move the current inpatient and some outpatient services to the new complex. “Only in this way can we modernize patient care and working conditions for the hospital staff, improving our capacity to meet the growing healthcare needs due to the aging population in Northern Estonia,” noted Sven Kruup, Chairman of the Board of the Tallinn Hospital Development Foundation.

Aet Ader, President of the Estonian Association of Architects, emphasized that this is a significant investment and an important public building that will remain for decades, if not centuries. “Therefore, it is very sensible for the Tallinn Hospital Development Council to take a step back and verify the quality of the spatial design. The purpose of the independent review is to assess the work of the previous designer, including the architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, and the building’s volumetric solution, and its compliance with both the end-users' needs and the initial brief. This review will form the basis for further design work, providing guidelines on how the next designer can improve certain spatial aspects in the preliminary design’s next phase,” Ader explained.

The first international design tender for Tallinn Hospital was held in the summer of 2021. The joint bid from ATIproject srl and 3TI Progetti was successful, and a design contract was signed with them. However, in March of this year, the Tallinn Hospital Development Foundation and the designer mutually agreed to terminate the contract. The designer transferred all copyright and documents related to the project's future use to the client.

On August 2 of this year, the Tallinn Hospital Development Foundation announced a new international design tender (reference number 278599) with a deadline of October 22. The subject of the public procurement is the preparation of the main design and the architectural and interior design projects for Tallinn Hospital. The new deadline for submitting bids has now been set for January 20, 2025, and the tender winner is expected to be announced by the end of March. The estimated cost of the tender is 19 million euros, excluding VAT.