Holm Quarter Planning Competition
The future Tartu is a city for people – compact at its core, characterized by diverse centres, and offering a human-scaled, nature-oriented, and universally accessible urban environment.
Here, city squares, parks, cafés, small shops, and various places for activity are designed for people’s comfort. The former “Kaunas” restaurant building and the surrounding area are envisioned as a compact urban space with a rigorous yet flexible planning framework. The result is the Holm Quarter – an accessible street environment featuring high-quality, distinctive architecture and a variety of functions.
This is an attractive place for leisure, work, and living. The street space is designed so that being outdoors feels pleasant in any weather: there are trees, shelters, seating areas, and spots for standing and conversing. The thoughtfully shaped quarter encourages choosing different routes for everyday trips and invites exploration, offering opportunities to stroll along the river and step into the quarter and its squares.
The Emajõgi River and its riverside landscape serve as a catalyst for the entire planned New Holm area.
The volumetric diversity of the buildings is inspired by the playful character of the pre-war Holm Quarter. A cut made through the quarter restores the long-forgotten alignment of Holm Street to the urban space. Along this axis, the quarter connects to the area between Siuru and the old market building and to the opposite riverbank, creating a convenient pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly link directly into the heart of the quarter.
New Holm could become a place with a strong focus on creative industries and activities.
