At least 13 companies expressed interest in revitalizing the Palace of Congresses. But the Albanian Investment Corporation qualified only 5 of them in the second phase of the competition.
According to the announcement, the qualified companies were:
1-The company “Bami Holding” with specialized subcontractors “MVRDV BV sh.pk” + “AEI Progetti Srl” + “IRI sh.pk” + “Jason Bruges Studio Ltd” + “Charcoalblue International Ltd” + “Arup Engineering Trading as Ove Arup & Partners Ireland Ltd”;
2-Merger of the Entities “Concord Investment sh.pk” and “Gruppo Koni sh.pk”, with specialized subcontractors “Perrault Architecture SASU” + “Ark. Pierre Antoine Gatier” + “Altitude 35” + “Ove Arup & Partners Ireland Ltd” + “Huesco Records” + “THARM Architects”;
3-The company “Edil AL-IT” sh.pk, with specialized subcontractors “ARCHI-TECTONICS” + “Edil-AL” + “PNI – 2001” sh.pk + “ing. Lindita Pelivani”;
4-Company “Gener 2” sh.pk with specialized subcontractor “Studio GANG” + “AD-STAR shpk” + “Digi Print” + “Besart Papa” + “Rudina Papavasili”;
5-The company “KLAR sh.pk” with specialized subcontractors “Julian Beqiri & Herzog de Meuron Basel Ltd” + “Marsela Demaj” + “Michel Desvigne (MDP)” + “Gentian Shkurti” + “SUEB INDUSTRIES sh.pk” + “The Space Factory Ltd”.
Big Tower
The call for the revitalization of the Congress Palace was announced by the Investment Corporation at the end of last year. The project envisages the reconceptualization of the interior and exterior spaces of the Palace and the construction of a tower with combined functions: hotel, services, shopping center, and housing.
The private company that will be declared the winner will benefit from 4,760 m² of public land around the Palace and the right to build up to 50 thousand m² of construction area on the land. With a typical utilization coefficient of 30-50%, this translates into a building of up to 20 floors, which according to the plan of the area is likely to be built in the garden behind the building, near the roundabout of “Papa Gjon Pali II” street. The ownership of the land, which today serves as a park, was transferred to KISH by the Tirana Municipal Council in July.
The designers are given the freedom to build a shared parking lot for the existing building and the tower, while the only condition for the Palace is "preserving the original architectural elements, without altering the existing volume."
Interventions for the revitalization of the Palace of Congresses were requested last year by the Directorate of Government Services, which administers this building. These interventions include work spaces for the Directorate, office and conference facilities, and multifunctional spaces for artistic and cultural events.
Although the Palace of Congresses has been restored twice within ten years, during Pope Francis' visit in 2014 and for the Berlin Summit two years ago, the Investment Corporation argues that the interventions made are not enough to bring the facility up to contemporary standards.
Editorial
