A new public space, Šnipiškės Square, has been opened in Vilnius’ Šnipiškės district. After the removal of the garages, the 84-acre plot between Kintai and Giedraičių Streets has been transformed into Šnipiškės Square, the community’s main outdoor event space, with sports and children’s playgrounds, an original walking bridge and terraces with seating. “During the transformation of Šnipiškės, we are focusing on creating a network of public spaces. We hope that this square will not only become a place for neighbours to gather and celebrate, but also for employees of the surrounding offices to visit. Šnipiškės is changing, with both traditional wooden buildings that have retained their character and modern offices. We are creating a diverse, multi-layered city, prioritising the needs of communities,” says Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas. The project was developed taking into account the community’s desire to have as many different functional areas as possible in the square. The name of Šnipiškės Square was also chosen by the community https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2fEt98DVuk “During the design process, we spent a lot of time thinking about how the new space should connect the very different cityscapes surrounding the future square: the old wooden houses on the eastern side, the emerging new apartment blocks on the south and north, and the historic buildings of Kintai Street on the western side. This changing location required atypical solutions and an unusual spatial structure, so a circle was chosen as the main element of the architectural composition, symbolising unity, growth and completeness,” said Paulius Jonys, one of the project’s authors, architect at ID Vilnius. The square in the centre of the public space is surrounded by an original pedestrian bridge, which provides a good view of the wooden Šnipiškės. Next to it are terraced seating areas, making it ideal for small concerts and events. According to the architect, P. Jonis, the main functions are oriented towards the centre of the square, so that all the participants in the space can easily see each other, which should encourage proximity and community among neighbours. At the request of the residents, large meadows have been created where the community can comfortably organise events and activities. A lot of attention has been paid to universal design solutions, adapting all areas for the comfortable use of persons with reduced mobility.
It is hoped that this public space will grow together with the Šnipiškės community, which from the very beginning of the project’s development has expressed its expectations and participated not only in the selection of the future square’s name, but also in the creation of the programme of activities for this space. In addition, space has been provided for artistic accents, both in the cobblestones of the square and in the centre of the square itself. Šnipiškės Square resembles an urban garden with apple trees and ornamental fruit trees. It is planted with broad-leaved pears, apple trees, chestnuts, broad-leaved and silver maples, osier willows, Japanese dogwoods, black pines, 62 trees in all. Newly planted lilacs, jasmine, forsythia and Japanese and birch-leaved arches will bloom on the site in the spring, and junipers planted here will purify the air. The square was designed by ID Vilnius, UAB, and supervised by Vilniaus Vystymo kompanija, UAB. The square was designed by ID Vilnius UAB (architects Paulius Jonys, Vincas Brezgys and landscape architect Živilė Savickaitė) and supervised by Vilniaus Vystymo kompanija UAB. The cost of the landscaping and installation of Šnipiškės Square was EUR 1.95 million, of which EUR 1.2 million came from the EU Regional Development Fund. The municipality contributed EUR 586 000, the rest from the state.
