The project is designed as a mixed use residential district, with a built area of 250.000 square meters on an 80.000 square meter site.
Facilities include a hotel, spa, restaurants, cinema, commercial area, shopping centre, offices, indoor sporting facilities, a clinical analysis centre, olympic swimming pool and auditorium. According to law, there is a maximum height restriction of 9 storeys, whereas the project develops as 1, 6 and 8 storey buildings throughout. The design of Serre responds to the brief for a high density development but at the same time aims to create an urban condition of the highest quality and comfort providing both public and private amenities which benefit the local area and the city of Tirana. An eighteen century courtyard type model was employed in the masterplanning of the area. Beginning from this archetypal model, the blocks were split by adding volumes-and-voids within the courtyards and fragmentation of the blocks to create open spaces and access. Through a process of iterative modifications of the archetypal model the project develops as a porous-
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and-accessible system contrasting the existing surrounding urban conditions of impermeability and exclusion.Buildings are generally oriented longitudinally on a north-south axis whilst apartments are oriented towards the east and the west to reduce the need for cooling in summer and heating in winter and thus, saving considerable amounts of energy. Furthermore, the use of air conditioning in summer is mitigated through the use of shading devices throughout the project. The inclusion of a seventy five room hotel, with associated spa and in close proximity to a public green space, creates a rare condition within the dense urban fabric of surrounding Tirana. The provision of facilities and green space accessible to the public creates an attraction for residents, local citizens and tourists alike.
Serre creates a permeable urban area that is rich in accessible and public green spaces. It responds to the brief, adequately providing for a necessary high density development within the city, but at the same time it generates high quality spaces that are accessible and attractive.
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