

On August 4th, Mainor Ülemiste and Fund Ehitus held a rafter party for the new Ülemiste City Health Center, introducing the current state of construction to cooperation partners and future tenants.
NOBE won the new construction tender that was arranged for the changed project of the Ülemiste educational quarter, and in the first stage, they will construct the building of the International School of Tallinn with a gross area of nearly 6,000 square meters and the Ülemiste community building at Valukoja 9. The total cost of the construction is approximately 11.5 million euros without VAT.
Today, the campus is home to Estonian Entrepreneurship University of Applied Sciences, International School of Tallinn from kindergarten to high school, Emil school and Kalli-kalli kindergarten. Due to the planned construction of the Rail Baltica terminal to the area of existing buildings and the growing need for educational services, a new educational quarter is being built in the centre of the Ülemiste campus.
“Educated professionals from Estonia and abroad have been one of the pillars of Ülemiste City as a smart city from the beginning. The campus of Ülemiste has grown and developed rapidly so far, and thinking about the future, it is necessary to build an international study quarter here, covering the entire educational path,” said Kadi Pärnits, the Chairman of the Board of Mainor AS, developer of Ülemiste City. “The first major steps on this path will be the completion of the new building of the International School of Tallinn, which offers IB education from preschool to high school, and the Ülemiste community building at the end of next year, to offer even more opportunities for sharing knowledge and being physically active, as well as a place for socialization.”
According to Ursel Velve, the Chairman of the Board of Mainor Ülemiste, the beginning of June has been a very busy time for Ülemiste City in many areas of development – a unique testing environment in the Nordic countries, Test City, was launched in the business campus, and the cornerstone was placed on the second Health Center, which allows the expansion of the health cluster here and the possibility of offering additional healthcare services. “Now it’s time for the educational quarter, the expansion of which has been long awaited to support the further multifaceted development of the campus. I am happy that we will start to develop the building created in cooperation with students, parents, teachers and service designers after a long period of planning and we will be able to experience a new modern environment already at the beginning of 2025 that will support both learning and movement and in turn will create even more green urban space in addition to our health developments,” she noted.
“Ülemiste City is becoming an independent city, where all services necessary for life are world-class. At NOBE, we highly value smart, versatile and multifunctional architecture, where an use has been found on the entire surface of the building. For example, in the Ülemiste City educational quarter, the entire roof area is used for playgrounds and leisure facilities. To create the best environment, both solar protection glass and noise barriers are used on the buildings. Developer Mainor Ülemiste creates the dream learning environment for all children, but also opens the building to the community for use. As a resident of Ülemiste City, NOBE is happy to participate in the construction of the campus,” said the Board Member and Construction Director of NOBE, Priit Nigols.
According to Hannes Kaadu, Head of the Estonian Branch of OP Corporate Bank plc, OP highly values cooperation with Mainor Ülemiste. “This project allows OP to make another contribution to Estonian society. The Ülemiste educational quarter creates all the prerequisites for providing high-level international education, and the developer has a clear vision of how to do it best. Since the quarter is environmentally friendly, we finance it through a green loan. We are in many ways in line with OP’s own sustainability program”.
The unaudited results of Mainor Ülemiste indicate record numbers in the turnover and profit of 2022.
The company’s turnover was 16.2 million euros, which is 24% higher than in 2021, and the net profit was 30.4 million euros, that is three times higher than last year. An important factor impacting the change in real estate value is mostly attributed to the completion of the new Alma Tomingas office building. The Alma Tominga building, which is planned to be awarded the energy and environmental sustainability LEED gold status, is an 11-story, over 20,000 square meter office building that is unique in Europe. Large international corporations such as Fujitsu Estonia and Breakwater Technology, as well as Estonian innovation and development leaders Skeleton Technologies and the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency, will be operating in the building.
Mainor Ülemiste is a subsidiary of Mainor AS, whose principal activity is the development of Ülemiste City, the largest business campus in the Baltics. A total of 167,000 square metres of leasable office space has been built on 36 hectares of the campus. It is home to nearly 500 companies and a work, study and living environment for more than 14,000 people.
Ülemiste City is being developed by Mainor AS, Mainor Ülemiste AS and Technopolis Ülemiste AS.
„Health and creating an environment that supports health is important for Ülemiste City. In the development of the new Health Centre, we followed the 3×3 health model created by the University of Tartu, which creates a basis for supporting the mental, physical, and social health of talents through the activities of the city, the employer, and the person themselves,“ said Kadi Pärnits, Chairman of the Management Board of Mainor AS, which is developing Ülemiste City. „With this focus in mind, we will build the second Health Centre to offer the community an even wider range of health care services, new field knowledge and cutting-edge technologies, and a new and innovative environment for service providers.“
„The building being completed as the second stage of the Health Centre is another example of the creation of a complete environment in the city – both in the construction and landscape architecture, we have focused on the function of the building, which is to heal people, maintain health, and improve the quality of life,“ said Ursel Velve, Chairman of the Management Board of Mainor Ülemiste AS. „Expectations for developing preventive health services and the environment in which the services are provided are high. The focus of service providers and consumers must shift from treatment to prevention. That is why we are bringing together the environment and service providers in the new building to help people better manage their health. High expectations and a growing need for services have in turn given confidence to start construction activities at a time when many developers are putting projects on hold due to difficult circumstances.“
„We are always happy to finance projects that promote the Estonian living environment and value the development of the residents. The Ülemiste Health Centre shows that our health care is moving in the right direction and that it is possible to be responsible in the development of commercial real estate as well,“ commented Anu Arnover, Head of the Real Estate Division of Corporate Banking at SEB.
The building is a seven-story flat-roofed monolithic concrete building with an enclosed net area of 9,450 m2. Natural organic forms have been used – bone structure, a network of neurons, patterns of tree bark and leaves, and the undulation of water. All movement inside the building is structured around the atrium with a glass roof located on the central axis of the building, passing through all floors. The atrium area has been designed with spacious curved stairs. Calm light and pastel colours are used in the interior architecture solution.
The idea of landscape architecture of the building focuses on the function of the Health Centre – healing people, maintaining health, and improving the quality of life. Landscaping is also based on environmental friendliness – local plants are used to create the most diverse environment possible, which would also attract various birds and insects.
The Health Centre and the Education Complex that will be built in its neighbourhood will create a dignified new block of buildings on the existing open parking area with an exciting landscape architecture that follows the strategy of the comprehensive green network of the city. In addition, the solutions for the green areas in the further development projects of both the Health Centre and the Education Complex have been based on a multifunctional way of use, offering opportunities for sports and games, as well as educational and relaxing activities in different zones of the green areas.
The energy label of the building corresponds to class A, which is ensured by the park of solar panels on the roof of the building. Outdoors, attention has been paid to environmental sustainability and biodiversity. Rainwater is collected and used for landscaping.
Construction of the building will begin in January 2023, and the planned completion date is July 2024. The project cost is 20.5 million euros, of which 15.4 million euros are financed by the syndicate of SEB and Luminor banks.
Rauno Mätas has a longstanding international experience in the field of architecture and real estate development. Previously, he has been an architect at Swiss Property and led development projects at Nobe Partners and Endover. On the Management Board of Mainor Ülemiste AS, his area of responsibility will be the development and construction projects in cooperation with the other Ülemiste City developers.
The Management Board of Mainor Ülemiste AS continues with three members – in addition to Mätas, the Chairman of the Management Board and CEO Ursel Velve and the Head of Customer Experience Julius Stokas.
Mainor Ülemiste is a subsidiary of Mainor AS, whose principal activity is the development of Ülemiste City, the largest business campus in the Baltics. A total of 167,000 square metres of leasable office space has been built on 36 hectares of the campus. It is home to nearly 500 companies and a work, study and living environment for more than 14,000 people.
Ülemiste City is being developed by Mainor AS, Mainor Ülemiste AS and Technopolis Ülemiste AS.
Additional information
Ursel Velve
Mainor Ülemiste AS, Chairman of the Management Board
ursel.velve@mainorulemiste.ee
+372 507 9781
Inspired by the work of Alma Tomingas, Estonia’s first female professor, the green building was created in cooperation with architects, service designers, researchers from the University of Tartu, as well as urban strategists, arborists, indoor climate, LEED, and digital experts, and gRrabbit, a creator of innovation in catering.
‘Many real estate developers hit the brakes during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, preferring to wait and see what the future holds. However, we made the bold decision to begin the construction of a building with a completely new concept. It will be one of the most well-thought-out and talent-focused working environments in Estonia and perhaps even the whole of Europe’, said Ursel Velve, Chairman of the Management Board of Mainor Ülemiste AS.
The Alma Tomingas building will be completed by November 2022, representing the office building project with the largest investment (over EUR 30 million) in Ülemiste City.
‘A building is emerging, one that we are creating in cooperation with the architects from the architectural firm PLUSS Architects from start to finish and from the inside out – based on the needs of our current and future talents. Awaiting them is a green environment, with the boundary between indoor and outdoor space being shifted by a large indoor atrium with balconies, a four-metre waterfall and an interactive forest, where it will be nice to meet with colleagues or let your imagination soar alone in the tropical microclimate. The innovation and greenery being created is a step taken in the name of better employee health’, explained Velve.
‘With the completion of the Alma Tomingas building, we will have once again created value and attractiveness for the Suur-Ülemiste of the future and the realisation of this vision, which in the future combines Estonia’s most important transport hub, the best shopping centre in the Baltics, and the largest and most meaningful business campus in the Nordic countries. Therefore, Suur-Ülemiste – which is likely to become one of Tallinn’s most important export items through business and conventional tourism – deserves only the best. The best content and the best form – the building will definitely meet these criteria’, said Guido Pärnits, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Mainor Group.
The 11-storey green building being built in the immediate vicinity of Tallinn Airport will meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Gold standard, the installation of solar panels and the first district heating and cooling system in the campus will take place, the switchover to which will save 1500 trees worth of CO2 per year in the future.
Fujitsu and Skeleton: a creative working environment is the key to success
The future tenants of the Alma Tomingas building include brands with global reach and recognition, led by technology giant Fujitsu and Skeleton, which is aspiring to be the next unicorn. Both were fascinated primarily by the well-designed nature and ambition of the project.
Skeleton Technologies has risen to become the largest manufacturer of supercapacitors in Europe, using technology that was developed in Estonia to provide energy to the products of the world’s top companies. The growth of the company is clearly reflected in the fact that it will occupy ten times more office space in the Alma Tomingas building than it did when it first moved to Ülemiste City in 2018. As a pioneer in the field, the focus is on recruiting the best talent from Estonia and elsewhere, with the ability to offer the best working environment being of critical importance.
‘The decision to move into the Alma Tomingas building underlines our continued commitment to providing employees with the healthiest and most creative working environment possible. We understand that if we fail to take their well-being into consideration, the company will not see any breakthrough innovations. The move to a new office – where the most efficient standards have been created to reduce energy demand and CO2 emissions and to conserve natural resources – will help contribute to bringing our plans for growth to life’, said Nele Leht, Chief of Staff at Skeleton Technologies.
Merilin Mõttus, Facilities Manager at Fujitsu Estonia, stated that the modernisation of offices and workplaces is constantly being carried out, but the decision to move to Ülemiste marks the realisation of many good ideas, which will provide momentum to environmentally friendly thinking and practices.
‘Fujitsu’s mission is to make the world more sustainable by building trust in society through innovation. We work on a global level with technologies that create environments that serve as a great place for people to live and work’, said Mõttus.
She gave examples of the approach: ‘We have created smart spaces where you can control your movements and activities with facial or palm vein detection. Also worth mentioning are solutions for detecting and warning of employee fatigue, measuring room occupancy and workload, as well as monitoring the condition of road surfaces and the spread of invasive plant species’.
The author and chief designer of the idea for the building with more than 20,000 square metres is the architectural firm PLUSS Architects; the builders are NOBE and the Nordecon consortium.
Mainor Ülemiste AS, the developer of Ülemiste City had its most successful year ever – the 2018 sales were 8.8 million euros, up 14% in comparison with the year before and profits 9.3 million euros, a 10% increase from last year.
Upon the initiative of Mainor AS, the Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) will open a first ever City of the Future Professorship this autumn. The developers of Ülemiste City are planning to invest almost 500,000 euros in the professorship over the next five years.
Ülemiste City’s developer Mainor Ülemiste AS’s subsidiary, Öpiku Majad OÜ, signed a loan agreement with SEB Bank for a loan of EUR 39.5 million.
A new system available to drivers in Ülemiste City can guide them precisely to an available parking spot. The system combines signposts, LED displays, web interface and the most advanced AI video camera image analysis tool. It is one of the largest AI powered parking systems in Europe and the whole world.
A new economic study was introduced which shows that the average monthly salary of people working for companies located in the fast-growing Ülemiste City in Tallinn rose above 2000 euros last year, making it 70% higher than the average Estonian salary.
Mainor Ülemiste AS' subsidiary Öpiku Majad OÜ conluded a credit agreement in amount of 10.7 million euros with the Estonian branch of OP Corporate Bank Plc, which refinances the existing loan from Nordea Bank and finances the construction of Lurich houses.
The International Baccalaureate Organisation granted International School of Tallinn, operating in Tallinn’s Ülemiste City since last year, the status of candidate school for the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme that is recognised all over the world.
The four top Estonian architect firms participating in the competition submitted their designs for renovating and extending an 1899 limestone factory building located at Sepapaja 10 in the very centre of Ülemiste City.
Mainor Ülemiste will start building the first homes in Ülemiste City already this year. The first residential building of the campus – mostly meant for experts arriving from abroad to work in Ülemiste City – is to be completed by 2020.
In just three months, 80% of the innovative booster offices for growing companies have been already reserved in Estonia’s largest office building to be completed this autumn by Mainor Ülemiste. There will be no long-term binding contracts and the meeting rooms, kitchens and reception areas will be shared by several companies.
The rafters went up in a parking house in Tallinn’s Ülemiste City. With room for almost one thousand cars the building will be the largest of its kind in Estonia. The house will be built inside the walls of an old factory building and the first phase is scheduled to be completed by August 2018.
Last year ended with the best ever result for Mainor Ülemiste, the company developing the Ülemiste City campus: they earned 8.6 million euros of profit.
The Estonian branch of the largest financial services group in the Nordic region Nordea Bank AB opened a new service centre in Ülemiste City today, to start offering financial and call centre services, as well as services aimed at countering money laundering.