OMA has been announced as the winner of the international competition to revitalize Tirana’s Selman Stërmasi Stadium and its surrounding city blocks. The original stadium, built in 1956, will be reimagined as part of a broader development that strengthens the link between the two key neighborhoods of Blloku and Komuna e Parisit. The scheme comprises the stadium itself, a triangular entrance plaza, and a series of new mixed-use spaces — including apartments, a hotel, offices, retail, and food and beverage venues — designed to activate the site beyond match days and extend its civic presence into everyday urban life.

With a bold new visual identity, OMA’s design references Albania’s ancient architectural history, drawing inspiration from the Stadium of Amantia, a third-century BCE Illyrian structure carved into the mountains. Echoes of its form and materiality appear in the contemporary scheme, where buildings clad in natural stone rise in peaks and terraces, echoing the terrain and stacked stone slabs of the historic counterpart.

all images courtesy of OMA

Surrounding the stadium, a new ensemble of buildings will house apartments of various sizes, a hotel, offices, retail, and food and beverage outlets to make the site a fully integrated mixed-use urban anchor. Alongside its newly enhanced role as a cultural and social connector, the stadium’s seating capacity will also be expanded from 9,500 to 15,000 for an improved football-viewing experience, while a new arena bowl will be introduced, facilitating enhanced proximity between the spectators and the pitch.

At the entrance, the team at OMA has positioned a triangular plaza that acts as a flexible civic space, designed to accommodate fans on match days while also serving as an informal gathering space for everyday activities. The entire development is thus designed to adapt to both event-based and daily use, ensuring its relevance and activation for the community throughout the year.

OMA set to revitalize Tirana’s Selman Stërmasi Stadium

The design has been developed in collaboration with LOLA Landscape Architects, Royal Haskoning DHV, and artist Petrit Halilaj. OMA’s winning proposal was selected over entries by Foster + Partners, FAR frohn&rojas, OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen, and Zaha Hadid Architects. With construction timelines yet to be announced, the project marks a significant step in Tirana’s ongoing urban evolution.

‘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,’ says OMA architect David Gianotten.‘Our design is meant to accelerate the exciting changes taking place in the city, while fostering closer bonds within and between neighborhoods and communities here.’

the intervention extends into the surrounding urban blocks

the design references the ancient Stadium of Amantia carved into the mountains

the stadium’s seating capacity will be expanded from 9,500 to 15,000