Uus-Veerenni Park invites you to be active and read

We have developed a public park of over 8,500 square metres in the Uus-Veerenni quarter with playground equipment, sculptures that enliven the urban space, a rest area and a reading corner. The new park in Tallinn’s urban space places a premium on biodiversity and the idea of recycling and is intended for residents and guests of Uus-Veerenni.

“We start from the idea of creating a holistic living environment. In addition to professional architectural solutions and high-quality construction, at Merko we place strong emphasis on the quality of the living environment surrounding the buildings and the opportunities that the home quarter offers to residents on site. In Uus-Veerenni Park, our goal was to create a good-quality and diverse urban space for the local community, where there are activities for people of all ages. The completed park area is a combination of smart sustainable solutions, playgrounds and recreation areas, art and an outdoor library inspired by the recently concluded Year of Libraries,” explained the development manager of the Uus-Veerenni quarter, Alar Toomik.

The new public park is located in Tallinn city centre between the Uus-Veerenni quarter developed by Merko and the buildings along Vana-Lõuna Street. The park area starts behind the Pille 4 apartment buildings and extends to the former machine hall of the Luther furniture factory, i.e. the current Äripäev building.

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

“The concept of Uus-Veerenni Park is based on sustainability and reuse. The goal was primarily to value the materials found on-site – to that end, the stratification of the former industrial land, such as asphalt and concrete, as well as metal structures, has been cleverly used. This park is most likely one of the first examples in Estonian landscape architecture where such a large amount of construction waste has been exposed to a new form of use,” says the landscape architect characterised the creation of the park, Mirko Traks.

You can get a better overview of the landscaping and reuse of materials after the snow melts in spring, but Uus-Veerenni Park offers a variety of leisure opportunities throughout the year. Children can have fun at the playground and adults can relax in the fresh air.

There is a reading corner in the park with bookcases, benches and reading lamps. There are exciting works for both adults and children – you can read them on the spot or take the book home with you to bring it back later or add a new book to your bookcase instead. To make the urban space more fun, sculptural art works in the form of animal heads have been set up in the park with the common denominator being ‘Toys’ by Jass Kaselaan.

The landscaping in the park is based on the principles of supporting biodiversity. The park uses semi-natural ecological communities that provide habitats and food for both insects and birds. The existing landscaping has been preserved as much as possible, which creates a connection with the past and gives the park character. In addition, the planted bushes and trees are durable and suitable for the urban environment, while creating a cosy and homely environment.

In parallel with the construction of the park, we also completed the construction of Tiiu Street within the quarter. While the courtyards of the Uus-Veerenni residential buildings are cared for by the apartment associations, the public streets and infrastructure as well as the park area will be handed over to the city of Tallinn, which will take care of the daily maintenance of the infrastructure and facilities.

The development area of Uus-Veerenni is approximately 12 hectares. There will be almost 50 residential buildings in the quarter (merko.ee/veerenni), which will be completed in stages. To date, residents have moved into more than 26 buildings, and 12 further buildings are under construction. A kindergarten will be completed in the quarter this summer, and further plans include the construction of a commercial building.

In more than thirty years of operation, Merko has built more than 10,000 high-quality homes in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and created a better living environment for thousands. To ensure quality and the comfort of the apartment buyer, we manage all stages of the apartment development, from the planning and design of a new project to the construction, sale and warranty service of the apartments. The largest residential quarters under construction are Uus-Veerenni and Lahekalda. Information about all Merko development projects can be found at merko.ee/kodud.