Design emphasises football as cornerstone of national identity and urban culture

Tenderstream member OMA has won the competition to revitalise the historic Selman Stërmasi Stadium and its surrounding area in central Tirana, Albania. The transformation enables the stadium to become a catalyst for closer connections between different neighbourhoods in the Albanian capital, emphasising the role of football as a common ground for urban culture. 

The layered composition of the mixed-use development, featuring new buildings and generous open spaces, refers to Albania’s mountainous landscape. The design also alludes to the Stadium of Amantia, adapting a reference to an Illyrian structure from the third century BCE to a contemporary urban setting. This ancient stadium was characterized by stacked stone slabs and a pitch carved out of its mountainous site. In the new block, the buildings are clad in natural stone and arranged to form peaks and terraces, creating an urban mountain range around the pitch. A high-rise residential tower on the triangular plaza serves as both a landmark and a modern menhir. The result invokes both classical antiquity and geological time while creating a new national project in a changing city.

The project comprises the stadium itself, a triangular plaza at its entrance, and new mixed-use spaces including apartments of various sizes, a hotel, offices, retail and F&B. The stadium’s seating capacity is increased from 9,500 to 15,000 and a new arena bowl introduces unobstructed stands and clear lines of sight for spectators, while reducing the distance between the stands and the pitch. Facilities including a playground and multipurpose athletic courts allow for social activities for football fans and locals throughout the year.

David Gianotten, OMA managing partner, stated: “Football is a cornerstone of urban culture and national identity across Europe and around the world, and we feel it especially intensely here in Tirana. Our design is meant to accelerate the exciting changes taking place in the city, while fostering closer bonds within and between neighbourhoods and communities here.”

Lucy Nordberg

Tenderstream Head of Research

Start your free trial here or email our team directly at customerservices@tenderstream.com

Explore the Tenderstream archive here