Liivalaia Cable Park

Designed by Ann Kristiin Entson and Hannes Aava (Mida Hekki)

Location: Estonia, Tallinn — Type: Pocket Parks — Built: 2024 — Show on Google Maps

Design Concept

Liivalaia Utility Corridor Park is a pocket park that emerges from the negotiation between what is visible and what is hidden, between restriction and opportunity. The site, located along one of Tallinn’s central traffic arteries, was envisioned as a threshold: to replace the existing parking lot next to the former court house and provide a more welcoming entrance into the neighbouring Veerenni district. As a pocket park it also serves as a place of quick pause for the nearby business and residential districts.

The design embraces the ubiquitous presence of the underground infrastructure – the utility corridors – usually the silent forces shaping the city by setting boundaries and imposing limits. Here, instead of concealing this constraint, the project takes it as its main subject: to work with it, to question it, and to transform it into a driver of spatial and material expression. The park is conceived as a temporary insertion, a meanwhile place, bridging the time until larger redevelopment of the Courthouse site takes place.

Spatial Articulation

The plan is composed of seven planting beds, their outlines defined by the interstitial spaces left between the utility lines. Three are lifted above ground in gabion frames, while four are cut into the asphalt, edged with bespoke profiles. Between them, six metal trellises support climbing Clematis, introducing layers of green that articulate depth, division, and intimacy within the small-scale site.

Furniture and infrastructure are subtly integrated: five wooden benches attach to the gabion edges, accompanied by an information board, a bicycle rack, and even a skate element – gestures that invite those often excluded from more formal public spaces in Tallinn.

Planting design aims for resilience and pollinator benefits. Drought-tolerant native species dominate, supported by an experimental soil strategy where the top layer is pure limestone mulch and beneath a 50/50 mix with soil, guiding the roots to grow deeper in the establishment years. To date, all species have endured. The palette is partly inspired by limestone meadow habitats, favoring plants with a naturalistic character and high ecological value – such as Knautia arvensis, Achillea millefolium, Thymus serpyllum, Galium verum, and Platanthera bifolia – complemented by Juniperus communis, Rosa rugosa, and other native presences.