Community-Driven Renovation in Tallinn

SOFTacademy is an EU-funded renovation project that aims not just to fix up apartment buildings but to renovate the buildings and courtyards of a neighbourhood in an inclusive, beautiful, and sustainable way, in line with the principles of the New European Bauhaus.

The project's goal is to develop a package of services for the renovation of apartment buildings in Mustamäe, as well as standard solutions for outdoor spaces, to encourage neighbourhood renovation and kick-start a renovation wave.

The pilot project will renovate four apartment buildings (Akadeemia tee 4, 6, 14, and 22) at the beginning of Akadeemia tee and improve the urban space between them. An engagement model will be created in cooperation with the communities, and standard solutions will be tested in a replication area.

Recently, results of the SOFTacademy project replication area competition have been announced, and the neighbourhood of Mustamäe tee 167, 169, 171, and 171a has been selected as the winner.

Neighbourhoods from Mustamäe tee and Nõmme tee were nominated. The assessment considered the willingness of housing associations to renovate, the number of people involved, the size of the area, and the motivation to design the courtyard collaboratively with the city and neighbours.

Based on the competition's evaluation criteria, the Mustamäe tee neighbourhood scored 25 points, while the Nõmme tee neighbourhood scored 16 points.

Reasons for selecting the Mustamäe tee neighbourhood:

• A higher number of beneficiaries due to the greater number of apartment owners in the neighbourhood.
• A typical Mustamäe residential area, representing the local residential architecture well.
• The presence of houses at different stages of the renovation process, allowing better testing of inclusion models.
• A larger and better-defined courtyard area offering multiple opportunities for implementing a soft city approach.

In the Mustamäe tee neighbourhood, the co-design of the courtyard area will start in 2025, with implementation planned for 2026. The project's aim is to enhance the living environment by implementing innovative urban design solutions.