The Grand Ballroom: A new urban landmark in Tirana celebrates community through architecture
The Grand Ballroom by MVRDV rises in Tirana as a monumental sphere, over 100 metres in diameter, redefining the city’s relationship between sport, architecture, and community.
Designed to house a 6,000-seat arena for basketball and volleyball, alongside residential apartments, a hotel, and ground-level retail, the project integrates civic activity and daily life within one continuous form.
The structure stands as both a landmark and a living organism, fostering public participation while maintaining a distinct sculptural presence along the arterial route between the city centre and the airport.
The sphere’s geometry is not a formal gesture but a functional strategy. By stacking programs vertically, the building condenses a vast range of uses into a limited footprint.
The curvature eliminates any traditional back façade, ensuring a uniform dialogue with the surrounding neighbourhood. Its tapering base opens generous public plazas and outdoor courts accessible to the community, while the upper taper creates private terraces for residents above.
This careful manipulation of form ensures every level serves a purpose, from public activation to private retreat.
At ground level, the The Grand Ballroom structure touches the earth lightly, creating a carved-out lower-ground ring that accommodates retail, cafés, and public amenities.
Steps and terraced seating lead down to this vibrant layer, connecting the street to the arena’s core. Above, the arena anchors the composition, flanked by training courts discreetly embedded beneath the stands.
The integration of circulation bridges provides a fluid transition between levels, blurring the boundaries between spectators, athletes, and visitors.
The hotel of The Grand Ballroom occupies two floors above the arena, offering an immersive experience where guests can view matches directly from their rooms or shared lounges overlooking the interior through an oculus that pierces the arena ceiling.
This design maintains visual continuity while insulating acoustically with a glass barrier. Above, the residential units wrap around a vast semi-open courtyard garden suspended within the sphere’s shell.
Mature trees, shaded lounges, and communal terraces define this inner dome, creating an atmospheric counterpoint to the energetic arena below.
Open voids punctuate the spherical envelope, bringing light and natural ventilation into the housing levels while forming themed green courtyards for residents.
Duplex penthouses and a double-height hotel skybar occupy the uppermost ring, with panoramic views across Tirana. The design culminates in a second operable oculus, symbolizing openness and unity.
MVRDV’s The Grand Ballroom transforms the architectural typology of a sports complex into a vertical city, one that celebrates collective energy and urban belonging in a single, continuous sphere.
Credits
- Project Name: The Grand Ballroom
- Architect: MVRDV
- Founding Partner in charge: Winy Maas
- Partner: Bertrand Schippan
- Design Team: Stavros Gargaretas, Catherine Drieux, Piotr Janus, Americo Iannazzone, Angel Sanchez Navarro, Ana Melgarejo Lopez, Sylvain Totaro, Lola Elisa Cauneac, Miguel del Campo Grijalbo, Stanisław Rochala
- Strategy and Development: Maria Stamati
- Visualization: Antonio Luca Coco, Angelo La Delfa, Luana La Martina, Jaroslaw Jeda, Stefano Fiaschi, Ciprian Buzdugan
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