{"id":371669,"date":"2025-11-11T14:00:32","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T14:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/371669\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T14:00:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T14:00:32","slug":"mvrdv-designs-giant-sphere-for-sports-arena-in-tirana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/371669\/","title":{"rendered":"MVRDV designs giant sphere for sports arena in Tirana"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dutch studio MVRDV<\/a> has unveiled plans for The Grand Ballroom, a sports arena in Tirana<\/a>, Albania, held within a 100-metre-wide sphere<\/a> modelled on a sports ball.<\/p>\n

Replacing the existing Asllan Rusi Sports Palace currently on the site, the mixed-use<\/a> venue is set to include a 6,000-seat arena crowned by a glass oculus, alongside retail space, apartments<\/a> and a hotel.<\/p>\n

MVRDV<\/a> designed the spherical 20-storey volume to mimic the shape of a sports ball, which means there won’t be any “rear facades that neglect the surrounding neighbourhood”.<\/p>\n

\"ExteriorMVRDV has unveiled plans for The Grand Ballroom sports arena in Tirana<\/p>\n

“The spherical shape is a reference to the round ball used by so many sports,” studio partner at MVRDV Winy Maas said.<\/p>\n

“Yet it also recalls enlightenment temples, from \u00c9tienne-Louis Boull\u00e9e’s Cenotaph for Newton to Buckminster Fuller’s tribute to technological optimism, the geodesic dome,” Maas added.<\/p>\n

“A great sphere in the heart of Tirana can similarly become a temple to sport and community.”<\/p>\n

\"RenderPublic space will wind around the building<\/p>\n

Renders of The Grand Ballroom reveal a gridded exterior composed of vertical and horizontal elements that frame rhythmic openings across the facade.<\/p>\n

Alongside these regular glazed openings will be larger three-storey openings, containing spacious terraces on the upper floors.<\/p>\n

The building’s rounded volume will be truncated at its base, where public plazas and sports facilities will sit alongside a ring of retail space and cafes on the lower ground level.<\/p>\n

\"ViewA glass opening crowns the arena<\/p>\n

On the ground level, a series of staircases will lead up to various entrance points around the building. These will all open into a circular lobby flanked by two training pitches and public and private facilities.<\/p>\n

The other facilities will be layered across the upper floors of the 90,200-square-metre building, starting from the arena, followed by the hotel, apartments and penthouses.<\/p>\n

A glazed oculus will crown the arena while also serving as a centrepiece for a semi-enclosed residents’ garden on the floor above.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Ten<\/p>\n

Ten spherical buildings from around the globe\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

“By stacking the hotel and residential functions on top of the arena itself, the design accommodates a significant amount of programme on a relatively small site,” MVRDV explained.<\/p>\n

“The oculus could be closed with a thick layer of glass to form a soundproof barrier while maintaining a visual connection between the upper and lower volumes.”<\/p>\n

\"ArenaThe venue will host a 6,000-seat arena<\/p>\n

Towards the top of the sphere, apartments will be arranged around a lofty atrium enclosed by an operable skylight, allowing for daylight access and ventilation.<\/p>\n

Other facilities in The Grand Ballroom include a private rooftop terrace and bar, which will be provided alongside a series of duplex penthouses.<\/p>\n

\"RenderThe development will include a residents’ garden<\/p>\n

Also in Tirana, Eduardo Souto de Moura and OODA are designing a gridded skyscraper as an “urban gateway” for the city<\/a>, and JA Joubert Architecture is developing a series of undulating towers that echo the surrounding landscape<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Albania is becoming a hotbed of statement architecture. In an interview with Dezeen, the country’s prime minister said this is because he believes architecture has the potential to make a positive change in the small Balkan nation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other spherical buildings recently featured on Dezeen include the Avicii Arena in Stockholm<\/a>, revamped by HOK and CF M\u00f8ller Architects, and The Sphere in Las Vegas<\/a>, which is the world’s largest spherical structure.<\/p>\n

The renders are courtesy of MVRDV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dutch studio MVRDV has unveiled plans for The Grand Ballroom, a sports arena in Tirana, Albania, held within…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":371670,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[61150,648,1032,1033,45781,171,84780,35041,96386,92915,92916,92917,179065,179066,159876,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-371669","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-albania","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-arts-and-design","11":"tag-design","12":"tag-domes","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-mixed-use","15":"tag-mvrdv","16":"tag-public-and-leisure","17":"tag-sectionall","18":"tag-sectionarchitecture","19":"tag-sectionnews","20":"tag-spherical-architecture","21":"tag-sports-centres","22":"tag-tirana","23":"tag-united-states","24":"tag-unitedstates","25":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115531430518634580","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}