Hara Harbour Building
- Commercial
- Estonia
In short: a working harbour building on the Estonian coast, built in solid MHM timber and named winner of the Inspiring Public Building award in 2023.
On an exposed stretch of coast, the Hara harbour building serves a small boat harbour rather than housing anyone. The roof makes the strongest move: a folded, sawtooth line of rust-brown profiled metal that steps down towards the shore, with vertical timber boarding filling the tall gable. Along one flank the structure opens into a covered boat store on timber columns, sheltering dinghies and hulls at the water's edge.
Timber carries through the interiors. Closely spaced joists and a slatted screen frame one room; another holds sails and small craft on timber racks. A compact sauna, lined in dark slatted boards, opens off a wet room of smooth grey plaster, screened by frameless glass beneath exposed ducts. Outside, a battened timber veranda filters the low sun.
The walls themselves are MHM: layers of solid wood nailed together into massive panels, a structure that lives with a marine climate without pretending to be anything but wood.
Why this harbour building won
- A public building that is genuinely of its place: a harbour shed's plain logic, drawn with care.
- One strong move, the folded sawtooth roof stepping to the shore, carrying the architecture.
- Solid MHM timber walls carrying a hard-working programme of boat stores, sail racks and a sauna.
- Timber inside and out, so the building feels the same whether you sail past it or sit in it.
Key takeaway: a harbour building does not need to be precious to be award-winning; it needs an honest material and one clear idea.
At a glance
- Location: Hara, Estonia
- Type: public harbour building, boat stores and sauna
- Construction: MHM, solid wood nailed in layers
- Architecture: Indrek Allmann, Pluss Arhitektid
- Photography: Tõnu Tunnel
- Recognition: Inspiring Public Building award, winner, 2023
Building for work, not for show?
We build public and working buildings in the same solid timber as our homes. See how MHM construction works, or tell us what your building has to do.
TUUYA builds mass timber buildings like this to measure in Latvia and delivers them across Europe.
