Low-level garden lighting glowing at Balti Train Station at night, a lit church spire beyond

Balti Station

The spheres glowing low around Balti Station, where Kalamaja meets the Old Town, could be buoys washed ashore. Buoy is an outdoor globe light, set into the planting beds when the station grounds were rebuilt as part of Tallinn's Vana-Kalamaja reconstruction. After dark they light the walk at a soft, pedestrian level, marking the route rather than floodlighting it.

Close view of a Buoy sphere with its black cork mount in dry grass, rotomoulded polyethylene shell
Location
Tallinn, Estonia
Year
2024
Architect
KavaKava OÜ
Client
AS Elektritsentrum
Photography
Uku Peterson
Designer
Margus Triibmann
Close view of a Buoy sphere with black cable on dry grass, rotomoulded polyethylene shell
Unlit Buoy spheres in a corten steel planting bed on the Vana-Kalamaja Promenade, wavy benches beyond
Four Buoy spheres lit at night in a corten planter as a tram passes Balti Train Station

We rotomould the shell in one seamless piece from semi-transparent polyethylene, impact-resistant and vandal-resistant for open public ground. The translucent wall spreads the light evenly and softens the source, so each garden light glows rather than dazzles. Dirt and graffiti wash off with standard cleaning.

Buoy outdoor sphere light glowing in tall grass at night by the station kiosks, Tallinn

A compact cork element houses the integrated LED source and keeps each sphere light waterproof. Architect KavaKava led the Vana-Kalamaja reconstruction, which won the 2024 annual awards of the Estonian Cultural Endowment and the Estonian Landscape Architects Union. The Estonian Architects Union also nominated the street for its Architect’s Annual Award.

Corten steel planting bed corner with two tilted Buoy spheres on white gravel, Balti jaam, Tallinn
Close view of a Buoy sphere with its black cork mount in dry grass, rotomoulded polyethylene shell
Pedestrian crossing the timber decking at night, Buoy spheres glowing along the Vana-Kalamaja Promenade

We make Buoy as a stock outdoor globe light, specified for this street rather than designed for it. The same outdoor sphere light suits promenades, gardens, and courtyards, wherever the glow should sit below eye level with no pole above it. See more of our outdoor lighting.

Other projects