Vibrant renewal – Baltic Station Market
In Tallinn, Estonia, just north of the city center, lies a famous market that has long been a destination for locals and tourists alike. Housed in a series of two-story limestone buildings from the 1870s, the Baltic Station Market has offered visitors a mixture of unique soviet-era merchandise and modern goods and services since it opened in 1993.
In 2016, it closed for renovations and award-winning KOKO architects was tasked with creating a contemporary and diverse new market. Of critical importance was preserving the historic character, without losing the vibe of the market or disrupting the lives of vendors and customers.
The result has not gone without notice. In May of 2017, the renovated Baltic Station Market opened to much acclaim. Since then, it has been awarded the 2017 Construction of the Year Award by the Estonian Association of Architectural and Consulting Engineering Companies (EAACEC). It is also shortlisted for the prestigious 2018 World Architecture Festival (WAF) Award in the category “Old and New”.
The new roof of the market is a unique, central element of the building that helps to define the entire construction and underlines the sustainable angle of the building. KOKO architects included a cross-section of a large saw-tooth roof with a gradual longitudinal section that follows the shape and size of the original buildings. In order to make the roof stand out with clean angles, long strip panels of sustainable GreenCoat® colour coated steel were chosen.
This allowed for a very visual roof. In addition, it also provided significant environmental benefits. The used product GreenCoat Pro BT features a Bio-based Technology (BT) coating with a substantial portion of Swedish rapeseed oil instead of fossil based oils, which are traditionally used. Additionally, GreenCoat® products are strongly resistant to corrosion, UV radiation, buckling and scratches, for a longer product life.
Construction of the roof went according to plan, with GreenCoat® receiving praise for its easy handling and low thermal expansion, which helped to preserve the clean lines. The Mountain Grey colour was chosen from a wide colour library and helped to create a look that harmonizes with the wide range of other materials used in the striking new Baltic Station Market.
