LOSTINARCHITECTURE

QTU

Qendra Tregtare Univers is Albania’s first shopping centre

Facts

Client | Alba-Trade GmbH

Design | technical and artistic management

Typology | shopping mall

Location | Tirana

Stage | built

Area | 21.000m2

finished | 2005

QTU

To interest Western companies, the building must conform to European Standards. With a total area of space of 21,000 m2 it represents a quantum leap in the country’s retail business. The shopping centre lies approx. 7 km from the city centre of the capital on the motorway to Durrës, Albania’s primary seaport.

Among the specific requirements were an independent infrastructure for fire fighting, a well with a water reservoir, a small sewage plant and a high-performance emergency generator. The planning grid and the selection of materials were to adjust to their availability. Most of them where imported from all over Europe, isolation from Poland, steel-glasconstruction from Turkey, and the architectural details were adapted to local necessities.

In accordance with the principles of modern retail sales, the large mall has a central food-court, providing access to some 40 shops in the formats S, M, L and XL. The client organised a shuttle bus from the city to the QTU. Due to the rush on the Shoping Center expansions plans are fixed.