Keila Song Festival Grounds

The Outdoor stage and surrounding park was designed to be used also for other events as well as daily activities all year round. This meant a series of bold decisions (a stage suitable for various events, circular audience paths, integrated ice rink for winter) that shaped the outcome we see today (that does not necessarily resemble a traditional stage).

The landscape architecture was based on the idea of blending various forms and structures (stands, dressing rooms, toilets etc) into the landscape, occasionally hiding underground and appearing again in the form of indentations and incisions. The paths, view corridors and functions are drawn into the landscape as a network of elegant curves. It is best viewed in motion with the various landscape vistas opening up and allowing the seemingly centrally positioned stage to create different spatial situations and emotions that are often orchestrated by site-specific landscaping.

Given that the architecture was not only curvilinear in plan but also in three dimensions, complex geometry had to be proactively modeled throughout the design process. This often required the use of parametric tools and various 3D software environments. Modeling began with the shaped surfaces of the concrete retaining walls and extended all the way to the uniquely shaped CLT panels forming the roof of the stage. Many design and structural details had to be developed and stitched together during the design process itself. The steel structure of the stage roof deserves a separate mention. In the final solution, no diagonal bracing was allowed between the columns supporting the roof. Due to the geometry, the wind load on the thick, grass-covered roof had to be simulated and interpreted multiple times. Several structural solutions required true “out-of-the-box” thinking—both figuratively and literally—to achieve the final rounded form.