Kadriorg Park Orangery (Kadrioru pargi oranžerii)

The earliest mentions of greenhouses in Kadriorg Park date from 1724, according to the park administration. Flowers were grown there for the flower garden, and potted plants, including lemon trees, orange trees and laurels, were kept over winter. Drawings of 1754 by J. G. Teichert, described as castellan by the park and as the palace architect by the journal Sirp, show greenhouses along today's Koidula Street, much simpler than the present building; their purpose was chiefly practical. Masonry from a greenhouse of 1835 has survived, and a survey of 1905 shows a lean-to greenhouse with a stone wall, one of whose limestone gable walls is preserved. At the start of the 21st century, according to Sirp, these buildings, altered over the years by repairs, formed the least attractive corner around the palace.

For the park's 300th anniversary, an architectural competition was launched in 2018; Karisma arhitektid, with Kai Süda and Risto Parve, won it. The foundation stone was laid on 4 January 2023: a time capsule was sealed into the masonry of the 1835 greenhouse, then covered with a brick of 1721 taken from the foundations of the flower garden cascade. The building opened on 5 December 2024; the City of Tallinn gives its total cost as 8.9 million euros, and the firm Montreco OÜ built it. In 2025 the Estonian National Heritage Board gave it its award in the category "new in a historic setting".

The building follows the three-block logic of Kadriorg Palace and its outbuildings. Sirp describes a house of glass and metal in a pastel green, whose signature is three half-cylinders raised on a rectangular volume; beneath these arches stand the tall volumes, greenhouse, winter garden and a garage for machines, joined by a lower block. The critic compares them with the glass-and-steel pavilions and royal palm houses built in London and Paris in the 19th century, and notes that curved steel structures are rare in Estonian architecture. A roof terrace linked to the winter garden carries a green roof and solar panels.

For the architects, the abundance of glass expresses the essence of an orangery, and the green tone, repeated inside, blends the building into the park; the façade on Koidula Street is designed to be as transparent as possible, so that passers-by can see what goes on inside. The engineering firm Arro & Agasild reports load-bearing structures in steel, precast and monolithic reinforced concrete and hollow-core concrete blocks, with the geometry of the cylindrical volumes as the main challenge; it counts 2,400 m² gross, against 2,200 m² net for the Estonian architecture awards. The greenhouse is ventilated mostly through openable windows, and an enlarged basement holds the park's equipment. In the offices, a fragment of the old orangery's limestone wall is on display.

The winter garden is the most visible part of the complex: according to the park, it holds a wall of houseplants, a collection of air plants and a collection of mosses. The neighbouring greenhouse is above all a working tool: exotic ornamental plants are kept there through the cold months, then replanted by the gardeners in the park's beds in summer, and the architects describe it as a place where new growth is raised, existing plants are preserved and old elements are repaired. A heating and ventilation system designed to look after the winter plants equips the building, and the architecture awards file stresses the attention paid to shading, lighting, air humidity and temperature.

The park's historic greenhouses, for their part, produced flowers (peonies, tulips, daffodils) and kept potted lemon trees, orange trees and laurels, the latter being taken out into the flower garden in summer.

The orangery stands at 34a L. Koidula Street, at the edge of the park, near the Swan Pond. According to the official page, it is open to visitors only during events organised for that purpose, which the park announces on its website. The architects add that the glazed part of the greenhouse, the winter garden with its seminar room and the library open for themed events, while access to the greenhouse is restricted during planting periods. The winter garden can also be hired for receptions, the room holding 50 to 60 people.

Because the Koidula façade is designed to be transparent, the plants can also be glimpsed from the street. It combines well with a walk towards the Swan Pond and Kadriorg Palace, once the events programme has been checked.