Marga

Rezidenca Marga

MARGA is a large-scale courtyard residential complex situated in Tirana's New Boulevard district, developed in accordance with the Grimshaw-led boulevard masterplan guidelines. Winner of the BIGSee Architecture Award 2023, the project establishes a clear, self-confident urban presence a building that holds its ground within a rapidly transforming cityscape while offering genuine quality of life to its residents.

Marga 1

22,000 m² | 2022 | BIGSee Architecture Award 2023 Winner

The building is organized around a central courtyard, defined by four distinct residential volumes that together form a continuous urban perimeter. Each volume has been carefully oriented and studied for maximum solar exposure, ensuring that apartments across the complex benefit from natural light throughout the day. The courtyard itself is conceived as a shared communal landscape its ground plane shaped by gently sculpted earthwork mounds and curved stone-paved pathways, creating a soft, informal garden character within the hard geometry of the city block.

Facades

The façades are resolved with precision and restraint. Large-format light grey cladding panels form a clean, gridded surface, animated by a syncopated pattern of black-framed window openings of varying sizes. This rhythm neither fully regular nor entirely random gives the elevation a quiet dynamism, suggesting the individuality of the dwellings behind while maintaining compositional unity across the whole. At the corner, the roofline steps and tapers to a sharp diagonal cut, introducing a moment of sculptural tension that distinguishes the building within its urban setting.

Details

At street level, full-height glazed retail units activate the ground floor along the boulevard frontage, with clearly numbered residential entrances set back slightly from the commercial edge. Young olive trees line the pavement, softening the transition between building and street.

Interior lighting

The urban context diagram reveals the building's strategic position at a significant city block intersection, fully engaged with the boulevard's pedestrian life on all sides a building that is simultaneously a piece of architecture and a piece of city-making.

Marga 2

Tiranë, Shqipëri | 21,000 m² | 2023

Marga 2 is a contemporary residential complex developed in the area of the New Boulevard in Tirana. The project was conceived as part of the urban transformation of this new district of the city. Its architecture is primarily based on the system established in Marga 1.

Facades

The façades of Marga 2 are designed with large cladding panels in shades of gray and soft pink, combined with black-framed windows and balconies featuring glass railings. The façade composition creates a balanced rhythm between solid surfaces and openings, giving the building a modern and elegant character. On the upper floors, warmer golden tones are introduced, creating a visual effect that makes the volumetry appear lighter and more dynamic. In certain areas, the building incorporates diagonal cuts and stepped volumes, giving the project a scul

The architectural project was designed by BLOX Architecture. The studio is known for its contemporary approach to design, featuring modern volumetric compositions, minimalist façades, and the integration of greenery into architecture.

Organization

Marga 2 is a residential complex with a total area of approximately 20,000 m², developed on a site of around 6,000 m² and completed in 2022. The project includes approximately 85 residential apartments and offers a variety of housing typologies, ranging from studio apartments and 1+1 units to larger 2+1 and 3+1 residences.The complex also features commercial spaces, storage units, and parking facilities, while the apartment sizes range from approximately 52 m² for the more compact units to spacious family apartments with larger living areas.