Nest is a custom light installation for Tallinn's Noblessner port: three glowing eggs held in a nest atop a former lighting mast. The seafront quarter is a reborn WWI-era submarine shipyard, reopened to the sea. Nest gives it a landmark on the skyline.
The idea began with a five-year-old’s drawing of eggs on the rusted mast. We developed it with the Estonian design agency Velvet. Together we turned the sketch into a public art installation for the harbour. It reads clearly from the road and from ships at sea, yet keeps the rough, hand-drawn feel of the original.
Each egg in the light installation is rotomoulded from polyethylene. We chose it for durability and weather resistance in seaside and changing conditions. The nest is woven from salvaged roof-edge trim collected on construction sites, each strip bending around a steel frame and doubling as a reflector. Reused materials keep this urban light installation tied to the industrial history under it.
After dark, RGBW LED fixtures light the eggs. The Casambi system lets the illuminated installation shift with the season and the occasion. We painted the metalwork to match the rusted mast. Over time the public space lighting will patina and settle further into the harbour.
Nest was made for one mast on one harbour. But a custom light installation drawn from a place and built from what it holds can take shape again elsewhere. See more of our outdoor installations.
