In Tallinn’s city centre—where every square metre is precious and buildings stretching toward the sky have become the new normal—something different is taking shape. Eedu is not just a new building, but a new way of living, a new relationship with the urban environment and what it means. One of the key minds behind this transformation is landscape architect Kristian Nigul and his team at VÄLI.
A keen eye may have already noticed something unusual rising in the city centre: the Eedu campus. But this isn’t just another high-rise or filler development. It’s a new way of thinking about urban space, movement, and quality of life.
While most developments focus on what happens inside a building, Eedu pays equal attention to what happens outside—where the city truly begins. It’s in these thresholds, where private and public spaces meet, that a high-quality living environment emerges.
“A good city is one where you have a reason to stay on the street,” says Kristian Nigul, landscape architect and founder of VÄLI. This isn’t just an aesthetic ambition—it’s a conscious choice to return the city to its people. And nowhere is that more tangible than in the streetscape design of Eedu. The Pedestrian Takes Centre Stage
The landscape architecture around Eedu is rooted in the understanding that urban space is limited, while the need for high-quality public space is growing. “We wanted to create an environment that’s not just a practical thoroughfare, but a place that feels welcoming for both residents and passers-by,” explains Kristian.
This means space designed for pedestrians and cyclists—not just a hard paved surface, but one animated by greenery: trees, shrubs, meadow plants and shade-tolerant species that add variety and visual delight.
This is no longer a place where cars take the lead. Eedu introduces a street where walking is the natural choice—not a compromise. The needs of people with limited mobility are also considered, whether it’s pushing a stroller, using a wheelchair, or simply wanting to sit down. “The street is our new interior,” as Kristian puts it—not a poetic metaphor, but a practical spatial idea.
Eedu is a prime example of how to create a “vertical city”—urban environments growing upward due to space constraints, where life unfolds not only in apartments or offices, but on the street, rooftop terraces, under canopies, in bike parking areas and on walking paths.
Kristian describes how careful attention was paid to accessibility, so that the sense of home extends beyond apartment walls and into the surrounding streetscape.
The street-level space wasn’t left to chance. Natural materials were prioritised—granite, not just beautiful and durable, but also a more sustainable choice. Benches, tables, bike racks and seating areas are intentionally placed, designed to invite people to linger.
Here, functionality meets aesthetics. It’s not just a passageway—it’s a meeting point, a resting place, a living space. And while space is a luxury in dense cities, Eedu shows that even limited space can be human-centred, dignified, and functional.
Biodiversity has become more than a concept—it’s a mindset that should be inseparable from urban planning. Kristian admits that while they didn’t set out to follow every point of the Tallinn 2035 strategy, the end result aligns beautifully with its vision. Eedu supports the city’s goal of accessible, safe, biodiverse, and sustainable urban space.
“We don’t create landscape architecture just to make things look pretty. We want to create spaces that are alive,” Kristian says. That life includes plants, animals, people—and even micro-ecosystems. It’s about a city that’s not just a concrete tube, but a multi-layered, finely tuned environment where every species—including humans—has a role and a place.
Eedu is not just another new development or high-rise. It represents a city that doesn’t submit to pure functionality or mechanical needs—but dares to ask: What makes a city livable? What brings people together? What creates a sense of belonging—even when your window opens to the 25th floor?
Eedu’s spatial concept seeks answers to these very questions. Here, randomness is not a flaw—it’s essential. Serendipitous encounters, short chats on a park bench, or spontaneous meetings on a communal staircase—these are part of everyday life.
It’s a city where aesthetics and social cohesion are given as much space as cars or elevators.
And while the Eedu building itself rises boldly skyward, its thoughtfully designed landscape architecture brings life back down to street level—where we walk, pause, rest, and observe. Home, for everyone. For those who live there, and for those who pass by on foot or move through the city.
Kristian Nigul and the VÄLI team have created something far more than a contemporary urban environment. They’ve created a place for slowing down, for noticing, for seeking deeper meaning.
This is something entirely new in urban culture—especially in a vertical city that might otherwise feel distant or sterile. Eedu’s landscape architecture is a testbed for a more human city. One whose value cannot be overstated.
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