VOLTA BLOG I Endover creates an urban space that promotes healthy and active lifestyle
An active lifestyle is an important part of taking care of both the physical and mental health, but if the gym or a nature trail is far from home or work, there may not always be time for that. Here, the city and developers can come to the rescue with the task of designing people’s living environment in such a way that there are plenty of various opportunities for being active near their work and home.
A 15-minute city gets you moving
In order for a person to be able to exercise regularly in addition to their home and work life, the commute from work or home to exercise should be as convenient and short as possible. If, for example, a sports club or a park are just a few minutes away from the office, people can work out even before the start or at the end of their workday or perhaps even during their lunch break. But if the nearest training grounds require contending with rush hour traffic, people may not have time to do so.
Cities have started to change and, in the future, the entire life, i.e. the homes, offices, entertainment and business, will no longer be concentrated in the city centre but will instead branch out into other parts of the city. North-Tallinn will be the first district in the capital where residents will have everything they need within a 5–10 min walk. Volta Quarter will become a 15-minute city where leisure facilities, convenience stores, a food street and various lifestyle stores are planned alongside homes and office spaces. In addition, a kindergarten and a private medical practice for medical care are planned to be established in the Quarter.
This means that there are also many excellent opportunities for sports in the district – the plan is to build a park in the Quarter and several playgrounds and sports grounds for different age groups as well as ping pong tables, a parkour, pétanque and ball courts. It gives residents the opportunity to walk out the door and play ping pong for half an hour with family or neighbours, go to a gym a couple minutes away, workout outdoors in fresh air in the new park to be built in centre of the Quarter, walk or jog to the Kalamaja Park a couple hundred meters away, or run along the beach promenade or the Kalaranna cycle and pedestrian track.
Several thousand new residents will be moving to North-Tallinn in the coming years and expectations for new sports clubs are high. With the restoration of the historic industrial quarter, there is a good opportunity for this – former industrial buildings with open plan and high ceilings are ideal for creating a gym.
Several residential spaces in the quarter are planned so that workouts can also be done in the comfort of your home. For example, the Volta Gallery Lofts come with a 20-square meter terrace and 60-square meter courtyard where you can set up your own outdoor gym or just a yoga mat for the summer.