National Theatre of Albania

The National Theatre of Albania is a 9,300 m2 contemporary venue designed to host local and touring theatre companies in the nation’s capital. Located in the cultural and administrative heart of downtown Tirana, adjacent to the iconic Skanderbeg square, the National Opera and the National Art Gallery, the cultural space will replace the existing theatre and add three new indoor performance spaces, a rooftop amphitheater as well as a covered public space underneath the building.

Located prominently on the cultural axis and in a mostly pedestrian zone, BIG’s design for the National Theatre of Albania seeks to reclaim and reinforce the city’s goal for more urban gathering places in Tirana. The prism shaped volume is compressed and lifted in the center, creating connections and public plazas on both sides of the theatre at street level. Visitors and theatre enthusiasts can enter the building from either side or simply stay under the arch of the building and enjoy impromptu performances or other cultural events.

Once inside the building, visitors will have access to immediate ticketing which is flanked by two grand stairs that lead up to the theatre foyer. From there, guests may continue up to the main auditorium or into the smaller ‘black box’ performance venues.

The program organization of the venues informs the bowtie shaped volume on the outside: the main auditorium is located in the middle, sandwiched by the front of house activities facing south and all of the back of house activities and services to the north. The facades on each side of the building reveal the interior program to passersby outside, creating a storybook for the public and allowing the theatre operation to act as a stage in its own right.

The rooftop venue and cafe of the theatre is accessible via the main stair as well. The sloping of the roof creates an amphitheater-like space and is given a dramatic backdrop by the city itself. With open venues, one sheltered and one with a rooftop view - and traditionally hidden theatre spaces being exposed out towards the city, the New National Theatre of Albania will be both stage and actor in the city of Tirana.