MUBA Tallinn School of Music and Ballet, Tallinn | Estonia

The competition for the building of a new music and ballet school in Tallinn had already been decided in 2011 and combines various institutions under one roof: four concert halls plus rehearsal rooms and dance studios, a recording studio complex, a sports centre, special music classrooms, normal classrooms and residential accommodation. The concept from Thomas Pucher consisted of not just a single building but also the creation of a new, significant urban space that unites the people, the place, its history and its music.    

The building is divided into two zones. The public areas are timeless and kept formal. The school area is lighter and airier, all teaching rooms are equipped with good lighting and acoustic properties to make learning easier. Independently of the use, the new building creates the possibility to concentrate and develop in private rooms, but there are also areas for working together and for communication. When you enter the building, you see a public, formal lobby with adjacent concert halls stretching over three floors. The main stairway extends through all floors.

The counterpart to this can be found in the internal courtyard. Terraces with luxuriant planters and large seating decks on every level invite you to stay. From here, the common areas along the main stairway can be accessed: the library and cafe on the ground floor, the creative village on the second and third floors and the living room on the fourth floor. Through the skilful arrangement of the functions along the edges of the property, a unique and unexpected free space has arisen in the middle – a garden of peace. The garden consists of a woodland, that seems to have sprung up of its own volition. The surprisingly quiet location allows a pause and deeper contemplation in the centre of the city while you are surrounded by a building full of dance, music and life.