Located at Kotzebue 10, EKA's new so-called White House is specifically designed for the creation of monumental art. Near the top of the street, at Kotzebue 2, a test building for timber architecture research has been integrated into the urban landscape.

EKA rector Mart Kalm acknowledged that these new buildings nonetheless don't resolve the university's space issue – a challenge that faces all art schools.

The opening of the White House will, however, allow for large-scale art projects to be relocated from the school building on Raja tänav to the vicinity of the rest of its facilities along the southern edge of the Kalamaja neighborhood.

"In the main building, we lack a space where students can lift heavy objects or weld, or where they could rage – we needed a space for that," Kalm said. "Another thing is that in recent years, all art schools have become more research-oriented, which is a Europe-wide trend. We now have several research centers, including a virtual reality (VR) lab, a materials lab, a heritage conservation research center and a timber architecture competence center."

Set up in Tallinn's urban space for the next two years, EKA's timber architecture competence center will allow the Faculty of Architecture to test building materials and provide their own insight for the renovation of prefabricated panel buildings.

EKA hopes to build a new educational building on the property at Kotzebue 2 following the completion of detailed planning. The university plans to gradually phase out its use of the existing monumental art building on Raja tänav.

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