New Tallinn police campus detailed plan in the works
Plans would move the PPA's headquarters and units to Rahumäe tee in Tallinn for a phased police campus; planning is underway, but construction funding isn't set.
On the Rahumäe 6/Tervise 20 plot, located on the border of Tallinn's Kristiine, Nõmme and Mustamäe districts, a complex of buildings important to the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) is planned to rise in the coming years. The state-owned real estate company Riigi Kinnisvara Aktsiaselts (RKAS), which is responsible for planning and developing the quarter, submitted a proposal to the City of Tallinn to initiate a detailed plan in spring 2021. However, the Urban Planning Department did not launch the process until October of last year.
The detailed plan is being prepared by Optimal Projekt, which won the relevant public procurement, and under the contract the plan is scheduled to be completed within three years — by November 2028, RKAS real estate development project manager Erik Vest told ERR.
"What the actual timeline for completing the plan will be remains to be seen, as unfortunately there are many examples in Tallinn where detailed plans take five to seven years to complete and even plans that have been in preparation for more than 10 years are not exceptional in the city. We are in active communication with the city and hope that through constructive cooperation we will be able to achieve our goal," Vest said.
No government funding yet
If things move forward and the detailed plan is approved by November 2028, the next steps will depend on government decisions and the allocation of funds in the state budget.
"At the moment, funding is available only for the preparation of the detailed plan," Vest acknowledged.
Currently, the main building of the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) and the North Prefecture is located on leased premises on Pärnu maantee in the Kitseküla subdistrict.
According to the explanatory memorandum for the detailed plan, the PPA intends to build on the Rahumäe tee property not only its main building but also office and workspaces for other units, a shooting range, garages and workshops for service vehicles, storage facilities and a parking garage.
Construction of the quarter is divided into phases. In the first phase, the North Prefecture and PPA office building — the new headquarters — along with the shooting range, parking garage and shelter are to be completed.
"The decision on financing the design and construction of the main building will be made and a more precise timeline set after the detailed plan has been approved," Vest said.
The second phase is the construction of the Central Criminal Police office building.
In the third phase, workshops, garages and storage facilities will be completed on the first floor of the parking structure. The fourth phase includes a new office building for the Lääne-Harju Police Department. The fifth and final phase is designated for buildings based on additional state needs. If no additional need arises, nothing will be built on the site and it may instead be used for a temporary green area or park, the memorandum states.
The maximum height of the four main buildings — those of the PPA, the North Prefecture, the Central Criminal Police and the Lääne-Harju department — may be up to 12 stories. Up to two underground floors are planned beneath the buildings for shelters and special-purpose rooms.
Vest noted that full development of the complex will depend not only on allocations from the state budget but also on the PPA's priorities.
"We have planned four to five years for the implementation of each phase from the time the government makes the relevant funding decision. Realization of the construction rights granted under the plan is divided into four stages, meaning that implementation of the entire project could take 20 years or more," Vest said.
A restricted area
The explanatory memorandum notes that the PPA complex requires security and safety measures significantly stricter than usual, primarily meaning a restricted-access territory. The building complex will be enclosed with a 2.5-meter-high barrier designed to resist vehicle ramming and vandalism.
Vest said that since the site qualifies as a national defense facility, fencing the property is both permitted and planned.
"No public access through the property is planned. However, along the property boundary and outside the perimeter of the building complex, visitor parking areas, bicycle parking and high-quality landscaping appropriate to the surrounding urban space have been planned," he said.
The quarter will be divided into two development areas by an internal street, which will connect Rahumäe tee and Retke tee. The street is not intended for general public use and may be closed at night and on weekends if necessary. Along the internal roadway and in front of the office buildings, either vehicle-resistant bollards will be installed or architectural or landscape design solutions will be used to ensure that the buildings are not easily attacked or rammed. The internal street can be closed, if needed, with a barrier gate or hydraulic bollards. The existing fence along Tervise tänav will be demolished.
A public square, however, will be built between the internal roadway and the entrances to the buildings.
Currently located on the property are, among other buildings, the seven-story laboratory and office building of the Estonian Forensic Science Institute, which will remain, and the Lääne-Harju Police Department, which is slated for demolition. In the immediate vicinity of the plot is the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service and slightly farther away is the North Estonia Medical Centre.
Plans also call for the reconstruction of the intersection of Rahumäe tee and Tervise tänav. The Kristiine district comprehensive plan envisions a future arterial road near the complex as an extension of Tervise tänav toward the Järve Center shopping mall. This is a long-standing plan under which the extension of Tervise tänav would connect with Viljandi maantee.
The 2024 competition to find the best architectural and public space solution for the complex was won by Arhitekt11 with the design proposal "Kompass." The authors of the winning concept are Illimar Truverk, Sigrit Nasari, Terke Kram, Sander Paling and Aaron Renser.
Until February 17, interested parties can review the detailed plan for the police complex and submit feedback at the Kristiine District Government.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski
