Urban Hybrid

Sport as an Urban Catalyst

Located in the Alba­nian capital, the project replaces the exis­ting Asllan Rusi Sports Palace with a new mixed-use buil­ding conceived as a sphe­rical urban block with a diameter of more than 100 meters. At its core lies a 6,000-seat arena desi­gned for basket­ball and volley­ball, surrounded by comple­men­tary programs inclu­ding resi­den­tial units, a hotel, retail spaces, and publicly acces­sible outdoor areas.

With a gross floor area of appro­xi­m­ately 90,200 m², the project repres­ents one of the largest and most ambi­tious mixed-use deve­lo­p­ments in Albania, posi­tio­ning sport as a driver for urban rege­ne­ra­tion and social inter­ac­tion.

An Iconic Geometry

The sphe­rical geometry is not merely a formal gesture but a stra­tegic urban decision. The absence of a “backside” allows the buil­ding to address its surroun­dings equally on all sides, streng­thening its rela­ti­onship with the city. The compact foot­print enables high spatial effi­ci­ency on a dense inner-city site while freeing up ground-level space for public use.

Towards the base, the volume recedes to create plazas, stepped seating areas, and outdoor sports faci­li­ties, acti­vating the public realm. Upper-level setbacks gene­rate gene­rous terraces for resi­den­tial use, provi­ding shading and tran­si­tional spaces between inte­rior and exte­rior.

Layered Spatial Organization

Intern­ally, the buil­ding follows a clear vertical laye­ring of func­tions. A sunken public plaza forms the base, surrounded by a conti­nuous ring of retail, gastro­nomy, and service spaces that support both ever­yday use and event opera­tions. Above this level sits the main arena, with two addi­tional trai­ning halls inte­grated beneath the seating tiers.

The arena is topped by two hotel floors that main­tain a visual connec­tion to the sports hall via a large central oculus. This opening can be adjusted to meet acou­stic and climatic requi­re­ments, rein­for­cing the spatial dialogue between sport and hospi­ta­lity.

Living Within the Double Shell

The resi­den­tial units are embedded within the double-shell struc­ture of the sphere, enclo­sing a semi-open inte­rior cour­tyard conceived as a communal green space. Large openings within the buil­ding enve­lope enhance natural venti­la­tion and daylight while crea­ting shared social areas for resi­dents.

Apart­ments are oriented either outward toward pano­r­amic city views or inward toward the cour­tyard and arena. The upper­most levels accom­mo­date predo­mi­nantly maiso­nette-style apart­ments with private roof terraces, empha­si­zing the vertical grada­tion from public to private space.

A Contemporary Urban Landmark

With The Grand Ball­room, MVRDV proposes a typo­logy that fuses arena archi­tec­ture with urban living. The project rede­fines the sports venue as an inte­gral compo­nent of the city fabric—simultaneously a place for events, ever­yday life, and public interaction—contributing a strong archi­tec­tural iden­tity to Tirana’s evol­ving urban land­scape.