Kymmel

Typology: Masterplan, Architecture, Public
Location: Rīga, Latvia
Year: 2021
Status: Honorable mention in open competition
Size: 40 388 m2
Client: EASTNINE KIMMEL
Design team: a part arhitekti
Collaborators: Ozola&Bula

Kymmel yields a rich architecturally designed fabric that meets more than people’s needs. Balanced pieces and parts seem to need one another to "stand out", their conversation becomes an orchestration. An exhaustive research of all the feasible architectural solutions for a set of given requirements.

The main idea of developing Kimmel quarter in Riga is to design unique space that interacts with the existing historical structures of former beer factory. Creating a place that celebrates industrial heritage, yet harmonically blending in Riga historical environment. The intent was to improve the quality of time users spend in the facility’s, both through the indoor and outdoor atmosphere it builds.

The concept consists of creating 2 different identities emphasizing each other’s value, and gradually forming a transition from one to another. Green and welcoming public space is created in order to bring life into the area, merging both identities business and leisure, old and new together within the urban block.

Designing a place that respects human scale is crucial part in the project that is emphasized by adding new structures in existing urban fabric. The layout of the buildings creates closed view perspectives, marking the squares and creating a rich expression of architectural and landscape forms.