Riga

Location: Riga, Latvia

Year: 2007

Status: Competition

Size: 2,926 m²

Program: Institutional

Project team: Alver Architects (Andres Alver, Tarmo Laht, Indrek Rünkla, Ulla Saar, Sven Koppel)

Description:

The goal of the competition was to provide a conceptual design for the new embassy of Estonia in Riga, Latvia.

The cityscape surrounding the site has a very clear typology: it consists of blocks with solid all-the-way-up walls outside, and organically built inner courtyards inside. Thus the proposed building has a clear unified facade all the way against the street line, hiding a spatially rich arrangement of separate rooms inside.

The building’s programmatic arrangement reflects the work of an embassy with the offices and the ambassador’s residence placed above the public rooms, such as the consulate, conference spaces, and lobby which also serves as an exhibition space.

The building utilizes reinforced concrete for the structure, with the facade composed of copper sheets of varying profiles. The changing profile of facade modules results in varying transparency of the facade, highlighting some areas while hiding others.