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Cover photo Tallinn SoftAcademy

Tallinn

SOFTacademy - Demonstrating a model of collaborative pre-fabricated reinvention of modernist districts into cozy living environments

EUI Call for Proposals in support to the New European Bauhaus demonstrators

Ongoing

SOFTacademy is developing a new engagement model to accelerate the renovation of prefabricated housing. This involves partnering with housing associations to revitalise neighbourhoods using standardised elements, enhancing buildings and their surroundings. SOFTacademy is putting its collaborative model to work in Tallinn’s Mustamäe district. Housing associations play a crucial role, contributing to innovative, environmentally friendly solutions and participating in the planning and design process. The project aligns with the New European Bauhaus concept, emphasising circular economy principles and sustainable renovation. 

Our main challenges...

  • Tallinn’s deteriorated modernist monofunctional districts need urgent energy performance improvements to save inhabitants from deepening energy poverty. The city needs to establish a systematic change model and tools to meet this multifaceted challenge.

  • Tallinn needs to accelerate the renovation of modernist housing districts to meet the goals of the Estonian Long-term Renovation Strategy and Tallinn Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan 2030. 

  • Mass-produced, multi-storey apartment buildings dominate the suburbs of cities across the former Soviet Union and beyond. To be on track with 2050 climate goals, direct CO2 emissions from this type of building need to be decreased by at least 60%. 

and proposed solutions

  • Modernist districts are not designed to be socially inclusive. So, achieving a ‘cosier’, more inclusive, living environment also requires a shift in urban culture. SOFTacademy’s co-creation tools will help to facilitate such community inclusion. 

  • The intervention logic, and digital tools, developed as part of the solution are transferable to any mass-produced, monofunctional apartment building districts that need not just renovation, but also an improved sense of place and identity.

  • SOFTacademy aims to serve as a good example for other municipalities in facilitating co-creation in the context of neighbourhood level renovation. 

Key figures

4
houses fully renovated during the project
2
liveable neighbourhoods developed through public-private partnership
4
new building renovation products and services made available for public use
5000
square metres of space made greener and more liveable, promoting leisure activities, community building – and urban biodiversity
206
tonnes of CO2 emissions reduced annually by the end of the project

Milestones

Designs for work on the buildings and outside areas developed and ready to implement
Apr 2025
Mustamäe renovation strategy tool (ReSTo) prototype
Sep 2026
Tallinn Renovation Accelerator fully functional
Jan 2027
SOFTacademy building renovations complete
Feb 2027
Courtyards upgraded
Feb 2027
1. Designs for work on the buildings and outside areas developed and ready to implement

Spatial components applicable as standard solutions for regenerating neighbourhoods with a holistic approach

2. Mustamäe renovation strategy tool (ReSTo) prototype
01 Sep 2026

Challenge-specific support for aligning building stock's renovation strategy with residents’ needs

3. Tallinn Renovation Accelerator fully functional
01 Jan 2027

Municipal service to facilitate and accelerate private renovations in Tallinn based on the digital catalogue of modules for renovations and urban environment regeneration created in the SOFTacademy project

4. SOFTacademy building renovations complete
01 Feb 2027

Deep renovations of four apartment buildings

5. Courtyards upgraded
01 Feb 2027

Increasing biodiversity and creating a greener, ’cosier’ living environment