The Volta industrial site, which covers 11 hectares on the sea-facing side of the suburb of Kalamaja, is set to gain a new lease on life thanks to property developer Endover’s plans to reshape it as a modern and environmentally friendly residential and business quarter combining old and new architecture. The land belonging to the former Volta factory, which gave Tallinn its first street lights, will be home to a complex of 29 buildings with fully integrated micro-infrastructure.
The quarter is due for completion in 2025
The Volta Quarter in facts and figures:
- detailed plans covering 11.25 ha
- total development encompassing 142,000 m²
- 90,000 m² of residential premises and 52,000 m² of commercial premises
- a total of 29 buildings (two of which have already been completed)
- 755 apartments
- more than 1360 parking spaces & a parking area for bicycles
- a kindergarten and a 15,000 m² park
- the quarter is due for completion in 2025
“The biggest changes in the capital in the coming years will all be happening in North Tallinn, and the Volta Quarter will become one of its hubs,” said Robert Laud, a member of the management board of Endover. “What with the developments that will be transforming the area over the next 10 years, the interest among the technology sector in living and working there and the fantastic logistics and popularity of the location, North Tallinn has the potential to become a Silicon Valley on the Baltic Sea. In all this it’s very important that infrastructure and transport solutions are modernized as well. Endover’s very much for a train line to be established linking North Tallinn to Ülemiste via the city centre.”
Laud says that the redevelopment of the site will see it flourish the same way it did a century ago at the time of the first Estonian republic. “The Volta Quarter dates all the way back to 1899, and its factories mostly produced electric motors,” he explained. “It was thanks to these factories that Tallinn got its first street lights, too. But the thing Volta’s best known for, even to this day, is the legendary waffle iron so many people had in their homes!” Laud added that the plan is to bring life back to the quarter in a modern way that nevertheless embraces its past.
The Volta Quarter dates all the way back to 1899
A total of 10 million electric motors were completed in Volta
Beloved production of Volta in our homes - a waffle iron
15 minute neighborhood
“We’ll be providing the quarter with fully integrated micro-infrastructure, which means that residents will be able to get everything they need on a day-to-day basis within five minutes’ walk of their front door,” he said. “Rather like the way things used to be, with people putting in their hours in the factory during the day and then spending the evening in the on-site workers’ club, we’ll be developing a range of recreational opportunities and green areas alongside the living and business spaces, as well as a kindergarten. The quarter will also have its own supermarket and bakery, a street full of design stores, a pet shop, a sports club and a family doctor’s surgery. In planning the site we’ve followed the 15-minute neighborhood principle, which is big all over the world at the moment. We’ll be giving the community a convenient, inclusive and multifaceted living and working environment. It’ll really boost the quality of urban life.”
WoHo quarters, or all-in-one residential and commercial districts, are a growing trend which is now reaching Estonia from the rest of the world. “COVID has left an indelible mark on the way we work – home offices have sprung up like mushrooms after rain, by necessity – and people are seeing a need to change up how they live and work generally,” Laud said. “Commercial premises are again being viewed more and more as investments as well, and the Volta Quarter’s planned to have a whole range of modern offices, shops and service points.”
“
In planning the site we’ve followed the 15-minute neighborhood principle, which is big all over the world at the moment. We’ll be giving the community a convenient, inclusive and multifaceted living and working environment.
Sustainable development and green spaces
Laud says that restoring an existing site rather than building a new one is arguably the most efficient and sustainable approach to development. “We feel a great sense of responsibility in redeveloping the Volta Quarter,” he admitted. “We’re aiming for sustainability while honoring the history of the place and striving for symbiosis, between old and new architecture and buildings and green space. Everything new that’s built will be energy class A, the roofs will be equipped with solar panels and there’ll be charging stations for electric cars. We’re also planning a car-sharing point.”
The popularity of Kalamaja brings not only a lot of people into the area, but also a lot of cars. “And we have a very specific place for them in the new quarter,” Laud said: “tucked away underground where no one can see them! There’ll be close to 1400 parking spaces available in total below street level. That, plus the recreational and green spaces we’re providing, will make the development truly unique.” The Volta Quarter will be a very leafy space intersected by fully lit streets and pathways. It will feature bicycle parking, playgrounds, skateparks and picnic and relaxation areas.
From historic to ultra-modern
Development of the quarter has now reached its third and by far busiest stage. Construction work has commenced, with six new apartment buildings marked out by their industrial architecture due for completion in 2022, by which time the reconstruction of a unique limestone-fronted residential and commercial building originally erected in 1912 should also have been completed. It will be home to the Volta Gallery Lofts – townhouses with ceilings up to 6 meters high and their own private lawns.
Subsequent stages will see around a further 400 apartments constructed and the main Volta building (dating back to 1900) redeveloped into a complex of exclusive living spaces. The kindergarten and parks will be constructed at a later stage, when they will be joined by the Volta Lifestyle Centre: a set of modern high-rise buildings up to 14-storeys tall complementing the historical limestone buildings and housing both apartments and commercial premises.
Endover has already constructed two buildings with loft-type apartments in the Volta Quarter. The first of them – the former Volta factory workers’ club – was completed in 2017 and named the 47B Lofts. The second building, Volta Lofts, was completed in 2019.
Should the developer’s plans come to fruition, the Volta Quarter will be home to around 3000 people and an array of businesses by 2025.
Volta Galerii Loftid
Volta Residentsid
A team of leading specialists with many years of experience is contributing to the redevelopment of the quarter. The designs of the buildings comprising the current stage are the work of architects from the renowned bureaus KOKO, Apex and ARS. The interior design throughout has been provided by Aet Piel, and the quarter as a whole is being reimagined for the future by one of Estonia’s foremost property developers, Endover. The ongoing stages are being financed by LHV Pank, Coop Pank and Bigbank.
