How to expand an existing football park and make it a catalyst for closer connections between different neighborhoods in the city? The team of OMA, LOLA, Royal Haskoning and visual artist Petrit Halilaj has won the competition to revitalize the historic Selman Stërmasi Stadium and its surrounding area in central Tirana, Albania. The proposal reconfigures the stadium, built in 1956, as part of a mixed-use development with new buildings and generous open spaces, referring to Albania’s mountainous landscape in its layered composition.
LOLA designed the public open space of the revitalized Stadium, with the goal of creating a square that sparkles everyday and shines at events, welcoming big crowds, but also ensuring a common space for everyday needs where residents can come together. The landscape design respects what is already there in terms of scale and program, valuing the fine grain of the existing public space and identifying some ‘community anchors’ that are kept to ensure a continuity in use, such as the basketball fields, café terraces, the chess tables, and the kids playground. Around these moments, new leisure and gathering opportunities enrich the public space and create a lively square that is active all-year-round.
The materiality links to the geological memory of the region. The reference of the mountain and the rough and rocky landscape translates from the architecture to a very mineral landscape, and it emerges in terms of shapes of the furniture, materials for the paving and objects, textures and patterns. The choice is to prioritize leftover materials from local quarries, reusing them in the paving and as furniture pieces in the green pockets areas, contrasting with a sleeker and more polished look of the furniture located in the square. The visual connection one can appreciate from the rooftop towards the mountains reinforce the concept, and the different terraces located at different levels of the buildings create a multi-level landscape that goes from a lusher square with biodiverse pockets to rougher and rocky sky rooftops.
One of the standout features of the Selman Stërmasi Stadium is its rooftop, envisioned as a semi-accessible public space featuring a pedestrian loop that weaves through a dynamic landscape of green zones and solar panel islands. These solar installations are thoughtfully integrated into the design, blending aesthetics with technology to create a varied and engaging walking experience.
The accessible portions of the rooftop are concentrated along the outer edge, where structural loads can be more easily supported. In contrast, the lighter inner edge hosts solar panels and lower vegetation.
Along the loop, visitors will find small leisure pockets and lookout points, offering unique perspectives and a refreshing alternative to the ground-level experience.
Green especially on the square is maximized to contrast urban heat and set the conditions for people to meet in a cool environment also during the warmest months. Part of the existing trees is preserved and relocated on the square to provide a developed vegetation since day one. A gradient of trees is created towards the stadium entrance, with two denser lateral biodiverse zones enriched with native vegetation and surrounding the most active leisure areas.
A central water feature helps creating a cool, inviting gathering space, doubling as a playful area for children. During match events, the feature can be turned off to provide additional space for football fans to gather.
Several areas within the Selman Stërmasi Stadium plan are designed as flexible spaces, capable of adapting to various scenarios— from everyday use to match days and neighborhood events. In this approach, architecture and landscape elements are in constant dialogue, working together to create strategic hotspots that can support a range of activities over time. For example, a large staircase from one of the buildings overlooking the lawn can become an ideal spot for outdoor match screenings, while the multi-use sports fields nestled in the green can double as a pop-up plaza for food trucks during football events. The core idea is to strike a balance between spaces with fixed functions and those that remain flexible, ensuring the design remains relevant, resilient, and responsive to future needs.
An interesting addition to the public space is the urban art pieces from the artist Petrit Halilaj. They become focal points to look at, scattered on the square and landing on the higher buildings’ terraces.
Selman Stërmasi Stadium
Client: Albania Investment Construction
Architect: OMA
Landscape: LOLA Landscape Architects
Constructor: Royal Haskoning DHV
Artist: Petrit Halilaj
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