MVRDV’s spherical ‘sports palace’ wins design competition in Tirana

MVRDV has won a competition to design the new Asllan Rusi Sports Palace in Tirana, Albania. Titled ‘The Grand Ballroom,’ the project envisions a 330-foot-wide spherical structure combining a 6,000-seat arena with apartments, a hotel, and ground-level retail.

Developed in collaboration with Trema Tech shpk, Likado BV, Albanian Capital Group shpk, and BCN Investments BV, the design of the scheme aims to merge sports, leisure, and community life within a single form. The sphere’s shape is designed to allow for a compact footprint while maximizing public space at ground level and providing terraces and courtyards above.

The arena occupies the middle of the structure, surrounded by cafes and shops at the base. Above, the hotel’s lower floors overlook the matches below, while residential apartments occupy the upper layers within a double-shell dome. Interior gardens, open-air terraces, and voids carved through the shell create light-filled communal areas and natural ventilation.