Architect carries Tallinn school’s spirit into new extension

Architect Johan Tali says the new extension to Tallinn Reaalkool was designed to carry the school’s spirit into a contemporary building, ERR reported. Tali, an alumnus of the school and one of the authors of the winning competition design, discussed the project on the cultural programme Uus arhitektuur.

The extension is complete. Tali said the design draws on the school’s historic main building, which was completed in 1884 to a design by architect Max Höppener. The team sought to bring familiar features of the old building into the new one, including its large staircases and square-patterned stone floors.

The new building’s limestone steps echo the old school’s stone flooring. On the ground floor, the limestone floor continues from the historic building into the extension. The broad staircases also serve as social spaces, with steps that can be used for seating and lessons.

A spacious central area runs through the new building up to the fourth floor. A square-grid ceiling, inspired by the old building’s floor pattern, marks the spaces where students and teachers can meet. The translucent wooden structure also incorporates lighting and conceals the building’s technical systems.

Tali said the team chose a simple facade for the extension. The historic neoclassical building has many columns and varied patterns of posts, so the architects wanted the new building to have a more straightforward exterior while remaining related to the old one.

Tali recalled becoming interested in the school when he was in sixth grade and saw its building being renovated during a bus trip into central Tallinn. He said its appearance and location made him want to study there, although at the time he knew little about the school’s history.