The former Republic Guard area at the entrance to Tirana's Great Artificial Lake Park is gradually being transformed into a “tower park.” The latest development seems to be worsening an urban planning problem that has been pending for years: the road.
In this space, which was initially promised to be a park for citizens, the opening of a road connection between "Ibrahim Rugova" and "Dora d'Istria" streets was foreseen as of 2020. This intervention would create a circulation corridor and ease traffic at one of the busiest entrances to the park.
But, instead of the road, today, six years later, another construction site is opening for a new tower.
The project is called "Garda Tower" and envisages the construction of a building with 33 floors above ground and 5 floors underground, with a height of about 120 meters. It is being developed by Artech Group in collaboration with the company El-Prom, which recently changed its name to Hasalami.
The architectural concept was realized in collaboration with the German studio Kuehn Malvezzi, while the project model was publicly presented at the "Bread & Heart" architecture festival in June 2025 (photo).
But for residents of the area, the new development has an immediate impact: the space to cross on "Adem Jashari" street is narrowing.
The construction site fence has left only one side of the sidewalk, and that too is very narrow – about 40 to 50 centimeters – making pedestrian crossing almost symbolic. The space on the side where construction is taking place was mainly used for parking cars, but it still left room for pedestrians to pass.
How the plot for the tower was created
According to arrangement The approved project is built on the merger of nine different plots, secured through agreements with the owners of existing 1-3 storey buildings in the area - the part where the "Ibrahim Rugova" street is expected to join with "Dora d'Istria".
But the development does not include five other plots, where three 2-6-story buildings are located. (photo: topographic map and layout plan)These properties remain outside the project and will continue to block the implementation of the road corridor that was foreseen by the urban plan (PDV). TR/169.
This creates a paradoxical situation: a tower can be built immediately, while the road that justified the opening and development of the area remains in limbo.
When the Municipality of Tirana drafted PDV TR/169, the former Republic Guard area was presented as a space that would be returned to the city. The idea was for this area to serve as an extension of the Artificial Lake Park.
For this reason, some of the plots located on the roadway were classified as "sub-unit for transfer".
In urban planning practice this means that owners can be compensated by developing another property in another area of the city.
This mechanism is often used to avoid the high costs of expropriation by the state.
In many cases, public authorities expect private developers to include these plots in their projects and contribute to the creation of public infrastructure – such as roads or public spaces – in exchange for increased construction intensity.
So, more floors, in exchange for a space for the city. But in this case, the intensity is not bringing new public infrastructure.
For the "Garda Tower" – but not only – the mechanism seems to work only in one direction.
By including in the development some of the plots that were located on the designed road, the developers have managed to benefit from high construction intensity.
The building footprint is expected to occupy an area of 487.6 m2 – from 1,220.71 m2 distributed across several plots – the project envisages a construction volume of approximately 20,300 m2.
But the other 5 parcels that are also on the road route have been left out of agreements with developers. This means that the road corridor cannot be realized without public expropriations or new development negotiations.
However, the way the project is being developed is not only related to the choices of the private developer.
The construction permit for "Garda Tower" was approved by the National Council of Territory and Water, i.e. the government, allowing development only on plots joined by the investor and bypassing the logic of the PDV drafted by the Municipality of Tirana, which provided for transfer mechanisms for plots that fell on the project road.
In this way, the planning instruments aimed at opening the road corridor were left on paper, while development was allowed to move forward even without solving the urban problem of the area.
In other words, part of the cost that would have to be solved within the framework of private development may end up being paid by the public budget and this means even more time to materialize.
Urban planning is adapting to projects
The organization of the construction site suggests that for a long period, the part of the road that would need to be opened to join the “Dora d'Istrian,” will remain blocked.
The company has extended the fenced area to near the middle of the existing road – which also coincides with the boundaries of the properties acquired for development, but – further narrowing the circulation space. From its office, we were told that this extension will be provisional. "how many demolitions will happen" and afterwards "The construction site will be pulled back to the part where the building works will be carried out, freeing up space for the construction of the road".
The site plan also shows that the new tower is being built very close to an existing five-story building, while the road corridor remains incomplete.
This means that even after the building is completed, the realization of the road remains an open issue for the future.
But, “Garda Tower” is not an isolated project. The former Republic Guard area has already become one of the most intense nodes of vertical development in Tirana.
Currently, the "Platinum Tower", a 35-story tower, is being built there, as well as the National Center for Children's Culture.
A new building for the National Library, about 18 floors, is also planned in the same area.
The process to find investors for this project has been announced twice by the Albanian Investment Corporation and has failed, while its development remains unclear – it has been said that it will be built by the X-One company.
Alongside these projects, the "Grand Park Skyline" complex has also been proposed, a development with three towers reaching up to 71 floors, one of the tallest projects planned in the capital, which is expected to be built on top of some of the existing buildings by the same company: X-One.
Together, these constructions are creating a vertical corridor along one of the main entrances to the lake park.
In urban planning, infrastructure must precede development. Roads, transportation, public spaces, and networks of water, electricity, and telecommunications create the functional base of the city, upon which urban density then develops.
This principle guarantees that development is sustainable and does not produce problems. But in Tirana, the opposite has always happened.
Density is built first, while infrastructure is left to be decided later, and in some cases, construction intensity is used as a negotiating tool to develop public infrastructure as well.
The case of “Garda Tower” and other projects in the former Garda area illustrates this logic. The projects add large volumes of construction to an already congested urban node, without solving one of the main problems of the area: road connectivity.
Instead of creating new public spaces or improving circulation, the projects increase the pressure on existing infrastructure. In this way, the development being offered to the area does not provide an urban solution, but deepens its main problem: the lack of spaces.
*Information about the project footprint and site extension was clarified after communication with the company.
Read also:
- How the greed for towers alienated the area of the former Garda
- “Grand Park Skyline,” the 3-tower project at the entrance to the lake
- €450 million Corporation projects “ready for permit” without transparency
Erblin Vukaj has completed his studies in “Communication Sciences” and further mastered (MSc) in “European and International Journalism” at the University of Tirana. Since 2012, Vukaj has been working as a professional journalist, gaining experience in online media, print media, radio and television. He has covered various issues such as current affairs, health, environment and sports. In parallel, he has led and been involved in several research projects on the communist past in Albania.
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