Oppenheim Architecture has officially broken ground on the New Boulevard Tower, a striking 38-story residential building that will rank among Albania's tallest structures. Located at the northern edge of Tirana's historic center, this ambitious project represents a significant milestone in the city's ongoing urban development and architectural evolution.
The tower's design is strategically positioned to create a new public plaza that serves as a central gathering point, connecting three of Tirana's most important spatial corridors: the park, the boulevard, and the square. This thoughtful integration demonstrates how modern high-rise development can enhance rather than disrupt existing urban fabric.
The building's exterior features a distinctive cast-in-place concrete facade that incorporates textures and pigments carefully selected to reflect Tirana's existing architectural character. This approach ensures the tower complements the city's visual identity while establishing its own contemporary presence. A key design feature throughout the structure is the inclusion of wraparound balconies for each apartment unit, providing residents with expansive panoramic views of the city below.
The tower's upper levels have been designed with luxury in mind, featuring three floors of penthouse units specifically oriented to take advantage of views toward a planned future park. The project's visual representations have been created by MIR, showcasing the building's integration within the local urban context.
The development is being led by Oppenheim Architecture's Tirana studio, where a dedicated team of local architects and urban planners has been actively contributing to Albania's rapidly evolving built environment. This local presence ensures that the New Boulevard Tower continues the firm's trajectory of creating architecture that responds sensitively to local context through both material choices and spatial design approaches.
The tower rises along Northern Boulevard, a recently developed thoroughfare that plays a central role in Tirana's strategic shift toward more sustainable and pedestrian-friendly urban planning. As part of a comprehensive long-term citywide strategy, over 65 percent of the redesigned urban core is being dedicated to pedestrian and bicycle traffic, representing a major transformation in how the city prioritizes different modes of transportation.
Rather than focusing primarily on visual dominance within the skyline, the tower's role in this urban transition emphasizes connectivity between different layers of city life. The design successfully links public infrastructure with residential programming while balancing open space requirements with the demands of vertical density development.
At street level, the public plaza provides a shared space where various streams of pedestrian movement naturally converge and overlap. This design creates flexible space for everyday community use rather than rigid formal programming, allowing the area to adapt to residents' and visitors' changing needs throughout the day.
"This is one of many projects we are delivering in Albania," explained Beat Huesler, the firm's Europe Director. "We're working from our Tirana studio to support the city's evolution through architecture that reflects place and community." This statement underscores the firm's commitment to long-term engagement with Albania's development rather than one-off projects.
The New Boulevard Tower also incorporates comprehensive environmental systems that align with Tirana's broader ecological goals and sustainability ambitions. These green features include extensive green roof installations, energy-efficient infrastructure throughout the building, and passive design strategies that reduce the structure's overall environmental impact. While these elements may appear relatively modest in their visual presentation, they represent a significant shift in how private development projects are being designed to support public sustainability objectives within the city.
The project's environmental considerations reflect a growing trend in Albanian development where private builders are increasingly expected to contribute to citywide environmental goals. This integration of private development with public environmental policy represents an important evolution in how cities like Tirana are approaching sustainable growth.
The 38-story residential building will stand as one of Albania's tallest structures upon completion, marking a new chapter in the country's architectural development. The wraparound balconies that characterize each apartment unit ensure that residents will enjoy unobstructed views across the city, while the cast-in-place concrete facade creates a distinctive yet contextually appropriate exterior that will define Tirana's evolving skyline for years to come.
