Four teams led by architects from Japan, Finland, France and UK have been shortlisted to design a visitor centre for Butrint National Park, a Unesco World Heritage Site on Albania’s Ionian coastline. Butrint Management Foundation and Malcolm Reading Consultants chose the following:Kengo Kuma & Associates (Japan) with CHwB Albania, YOKE, Esmeralda Agolli, Ervin Paci, Solaron Albania, iMEPS Engineering & Consulting and R‑Team EngineeringLahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects (Finland) with Geometria Architecture, doxiadis+, Ralph Appelbaum Associates, Giorgos Papazafiriou and SitowisePhilippe Prost / AAPP (France) with Michel Desvigne Paysagiste, William Van Andringa, Terrell Group, Eco + Construire and CL DesignWilliam Matthews Associates (UK) with Barker Langham, Harris Bugg Studio, Structure Workshop and Atelier Ten.They will now create concept designs for the carbon-neutral visitor centre, which will be a gateway to the park amid rising visitor numbers. The national park contains hills, lakes, wetlands, salt marshes, plains, reed beds and coastal islands.The site has remains from major civilisations from the ancient Greeks and Byzantines through to the Venetian and Ottoman periods. The site’s highlights include an ancient Epirot Theater, Roman Forum and an early Byzantine Baptistery with a well-preserved mosaic pavement, along with other monuments dating from the Hellenic, Roman, Byzantine, Angevin, Venetian and Ottoman periods.
Four teams led by architects from Japan, Finland, France and UK have been shortlisted to design a visitor centre for Butrint National Park, a Unesco World Heritage Site on Albania’s Ionian coastline. Butrint Management Foundation and Malcolm Reading Consultants chose the following:Kengo Kuma & Associates (Japan) with CHwB Albania, YOKE, Esmeralda Agolli, Ervin Paci, Solaron Albania, iMEPS Engineering & Consulting and R‑Team EngineeringLahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects (Finland) with Geometria Architecture, doxiadis+, Ralph Appelbaum Associates, Giorgos Papazafiriou and SitowisePhilippe Prost / AAPP (France) with Michel Desvigne Paysagiste, William Van Andringa, Terrell Group, Eco + Construire and CL DesignWilliam Matthews Associates (UK) with Barker Langham, Harris Bugg Studio, Structure Workshop and Atelier Ten.They will now create concept designs for the carbon-neutral visitor centre, which will be a gateway to the park amid rising visitor numbers. The national park contains hills, lakes, wetlands, salt marshes, plains, reed beds and coastal islands.The site has remains from major civilisations from the ancient Greeks and Byzantines through to the Venetian and Ottoman periods. The site’s highlights include an ancient Epirot Theater, Roman Forum and an early Byzantine Baptistery with a well-preserved mosaic pavement, along with other monuments dating from the Hellenic, Roman, Byzantine, Angevin, Venetian and Ottoman periods.
