ARMED FORCES ACADEMY

avatelier

Interior Experience – Finalists 2026 – Cultural. Education. Heritage. Temporary. Experimental

Albania

Company Name

avatelier

COMPANY COUNTRY:

ARCHITECTURAL CREDITS

Avatelier Armand Vokshi Ani Panariti

Project Team

AUTHOR ARMAND VOKSHI, ANI TOLA COLLABORATORS: Sabina Ramaj, Ertegrela Omeri, Lulie Brasha

CLIENT OR OWNER NAME:

Project Name:

ARMED FORCES ACADEMY

Project Country:

Albania

Project City:

Tirana

Project Category:

Cultural. Education. Heritage. Temporary. Experimental, Finalists 2026

Project Area:

5800

Completion Date:

2026-08-15

Project overview

This adaptive project enhances the Armed Forces Academy by integrating a library, auditorium, classrooms, offices, and communal zones within a cost-effective budget. The design reclaims deactivated materials to deliver high spatial authenticity and environmental stewardship. Dismantling and repurposing these historical military elements cuts lifecycle costs and carbon footprint, uniting functional academic programming with a sustainable, narrative-driven institutional environment.

Project history

Conceived as an adaptive modernization, the AFA project stemmed from the client’s desire to upgrade institutional infrastructure while confronting the country’s complex past. From the outset, the vision was to create an open, comfortable academic environment to support academic and professional training. To foster a harmonious atmosphere aligned with academic values, the design repurposed facilities formerly used by the Albanian People’s Army, executing the process through careful stages of inventory, dismantling, and interior intervention. Rather than discarding these materials, the project repurposed them as authentic interior architectural elements. This circular approach minimized material waste, transforming totalitarian relics into catalysts for critical democratic reflection.