Overhanging balconies to unite Albanian housing blocks by Zaha Hadid Architects
UK studio Zaha Hadid Architects has unveiled visuals of Nest and Cascades, a housing development in Tirana that will have overhanging balconies and a colour palette informed by its surroundings.
Set to be built in the Albanian capital's Kodra e Dielli district, the project comprises two distinct but complementary developments, each containing a range of apartments.
Zaha Hadid Architects' design for The Nest consists of four buildings across four plots, while The Cascades will expand the district's existing Arka Art Hotel.
Kodra e Dielli is a district known for its large villas and townhouses, with views out to the valley and woodlands of the Dajti Mountain.
Zaha Hadid Architects was commissioned for the project in response to the growing popularity of the district and a demand for housing catered to "younger families, couples, young professionals and retirees who no longer require a large family home", it said.
"Zaha Hadid Architects' design of the new Nest and Cascades developments provide apartments that respond to this significant demand for a wider variety of residential accommodation in Kodra e Diellit," explained the studio.
The larger of the two projects is The Nest, which will contain a mix of one- to three-bedroom apartments.
It will be characterised by Zaha Hadid Architect's trademark sweeps and curves, formed from recessed terraces and cantilevered balconies.
According to the studio, these forms were designed using "complex digital models" and will enable cross-ventilation throughout each apartment.
"The design responds directly to Tirana's humid subtropical Mediterranean climate, with the architecture serving as a passive environmental system," said the studio.
"Deep facade reveals, overhanging balconies, and recessed openings are computationally designed to intercept summer solar radiation while admitting low winter sun deep into the apartments."
Zaha Hadid Architects plans for it to be built using modular components and finished with clay-based cladding. On two of the four buildings, the cladding will be fawn-coloured, while the third will be terracotta-hued and the fourth will have a deep red tone as a nod to the iron-rich soil on the adjacent hillside.
Completing the project will be a community park with native plants and shaded areas, a rainwater harvesting system and a rooftop solar array.
"The central park's landscaping connects the community and functions as climate infrastructure as well as social amenity," added the studio.
"High-albedo surfaces, permeable paving, and native planting actively mitigate urban heat island effects identified through thermal mapping of the surrounding urban fabric."
Close by, The Cascades will expand the district's existing Arka Art Hotel, introducing a new 120-room hotel wing as well as a residential wing.
Zaha Hadid Architects will add a 60-metre extension to the hotel's existing swimming pool, alongside two landscaped courtyards and a series of "cascading garden terraces". These will be designed to maximise valley views and provide meeting spaces for both guests and residents.
Similarly to The Nest, the hotel rooms and apartments will have deep terraces. It will be clad in glassfibre-reinforced concrete (GRC) panels finished in colours intended to evoke local stone.
"Cast on site in modular strips, the GRC panels minimise structural loads and transport distances while also allowing the textures evident within the region's geology to be reflected in the development's facades," said the studio.
The extension will also incorporate a rainwater collection system and be finished with green roofs and external solar shading.
Tirana is currently under rapid development, becoming a hotspot for offbeat architecture. Elsewhere in the city, MVRDV is creating a tower in the shape of the former communist state's national hero, while NOA is building a skyscraper that resembles a stack of gabled houses.
Other recent proposals by Zaha Hadid Architects include a Taipei skyscraper modelled on an orchid and a curving cultural district on the Hangzhou waterfront.
The visuals are by Engram unless stated otherwise.
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