KENGO KUMA TO DESIGN VISITOR CENTRE FOR ALBANIN WORLD HERITAGE SITE
PHOTOS COURTESY OF KKAA
Kengo Kuma & Associates (KKAA) has emerged as the winner of a competition to design a visitor centre at Albania’s Butrint National Park, a revered UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Located on the Ionian coast, the centre will serve as an entrance to the park to help manage the increasing influx of tourists while also providing an educational and communal space for the local community.
Drawing inspiration from Albania’s historic stone monuments, the building will feature a series of limestone roofs constructed above mass timber and steel. The project will also provide an upper gate that overlooks an estuary and a lake.
In collaboration with Albanian partner CHwB Albania, as well as Ervin Paci, Solaron Albania, iMEPS Engineering & Consulting, YOKE, Esmeralda Agolli, and GE-D Engineering, KKAA was selected from a shortlist that included architectural teams from France, Finland, and the UK. The project is expected to be completed in September 2025.
iC