MVRDV has unveiled its winning design for the new Asllan Rusi sports palace in Tirana, Albania, a groundbreaking mixed-use complex aptly named The Grand Ballroom. This ambitious project combines a massive 6,000-seat sports arena with residential apartments, a hotel, and ground-level retail spaces, all contained within a single, monumental spherical structure over 100 meters in diameter. The proposal is set to become a distinctive new architectural landmark in the city, blending sport and community into a cohesive, singular destination for gathering. The design team partnered with a consortium including Trema Tech shpk, Likado BV, Albanian Capital Group shpk, and BCN Investments BV to produce the winning entry.
The unique spherical shape of The Grand Ballroom serves multiple functional purposes beyond simply creating an iconic structure along the road connecting the airport to the city center. By stacking the apartments and hotel on top of the arena, the design efficiently accommodates a significant amount of program on a relatively compact site. Furthermore, the rounded form avoids neglected “rear” facades, ensuring the structure engages equally with the surrounding neighborhood. The inward tapering at the base creates more public plazas and outdoor sports facilities for local children, while the inward taper at the top provides large terraces for the residents.
The building’s functions are ingeniously organized in layers. At the base, the structure imprints the earth, forming a lower-ground floor with a ring of retail spaces, cafes, and amenities accessible via steps and tribunes. Above this is the main 6,000-seat arena for basketball and volleyball, flanked by two hidden training courts beneath the stands. Access to the main venue is provided via short bridges at ground level.
Two floors dedicated to the hotel are situated directly above the arena. This positioning allows lower-level hotel rooms and upper-level amenity spaces to overlook the matches. The upper amenity level cantilevers over the stands, forming an oculus in the arena ceiling. This oculus can be closed with a thick layer of glass to ensure soundproofing while maintaining a vital visual connection between the lower arena and the volumes above.
Above the hotel, the apartments are housed within the sphere’s double-shell structure, creating a colossal semi-outdoor domed space on the interior—a near-mirror of the arena bowl below. This space transforms into a lush courtyard garden for residents, complete with mature trees and furnishings for relaxation. The apartment dome is punctuated by three- and four-story rectangular holes punched through the shell, providing natural ventilation and additional communal green spaces for residences, each with its own theme. The apartments offer a mix of outward-facing and dual-aspect units, giving residents spectacular views of both Tirana and the interior courtyard garden, with a glimpse into the arenathrough the oculus.
MVRDV Founding Partner Winy Maas described the vision, stating, “The Grand Ballroom will become a beacon, aiming to inspire and encourage people to play and to watch sport. A place to play, meet, and celebrate!”. He noted that the spherical shape is a direct reference to the round ball used in many sports, while also recalling significant architectural precedents like Étienne-Louis Boullée’s Cenotaph for Newton and Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome. Maas envisions this great sphere as a temple to sport and community in the heart of Tirana, drawing people from all over to gather and celebrate, thus continuing the “growing Tirana Collection of new buildings”. The very top of the sphere hosts duplex penthouses with private rooftop terraces and a double-height hotel skybar, offering panoramic views over the city. A second, closable oculus at the top completes the spherical structure.