real estate Archives - Brand Manual

Client
Mainor Ülemiste & Technopol

Industry
Real-estate / Professional services

What we did?
Service mapping & vision
Planning tools for development

Ülemiste City is an old industrial estate. In the recent decade, however, it has transformed from an essentially abandoned 20th century factory complex into a service infused smart city. It is now home to hundreds of innovative companies working in modern office towers and refurbished factory buildings. But this is only the beginning. The developer is looking 5, 10 and 15 years into the future.

Ülemiste City has become an innovation hub. It’s busy in the day but lifeless in the evening. It’s a place where people go to work and now the task is to turn it into a living space as well. To do that in a smart way, we set out to develop a framework to understand what people actually want and expect from this city quarter.

A street view of a modern quarter with greenery and public space

Ülemiste City vision / Image courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects

From business hub to urban environment in 5 years

We developed the core personas that are frequenting the area and mapped 100 existing and 128 future services that will need to be delivered, to make Ülemiste City a living space. These aren’t just a random set of nice-to-haves, but amenities, clearly grouped, by a set of principles. What kind of service will be needed. Where they will be needed and who could deliver them. Optimal locations and density of offerings.

The goal is clear: to make Ülemiste City an attractive space for talent and business for years to come, taking into consideration that the population of the area will at least double. Its proximity to the airport and a the future railway hub make this all but inevitable in 5 to 10 years.

The resulting masterplan detailed the services along with the needs they will need to cover, visualised on a map, in 5 year stages. It laid out a demand matrix for services based on the defined personas, focusing on the talents that will work and live in the area and what their life is likely to look like.

Subsequent interviews and analysis allowed us to define the general trends with specific suggestions from maker space facilities to permanent street food stalls to entertainment features. These visions and plans were wrapped up in a visualised document that provides the Ülemiste City real-estate developer with a guide to what lies ahead while also serving as an enticing introduction for future investors.

www.ulemistecity.ee