The name Arben means “Albanian”, typically given to one’s child to reflect a sense of pride for one’s birthplace, or occasionally to a building to give it some of the same symbolic weight. Arben Tower is indeed intended as a tribute to Albania’s heritage and as a contemporary landmark in its capital, occupying a prominent site next to Tirana’s principal public space, Skanderbeg Square – and nearby another project by the Taller: Barcelona Tower.
Arben’s design is generated from the constraints of its immediate surroundings: an exceptionally tight plot, onto which two towers must fit. Given their close proximity, the towers address issues of privacy and mutual overlooking by rotating the windows 45 degrees along all facades. This uniform rotation ensures visual separation between facing apartments while introducing a consistent geometry across both buildings.
Each tower reaches a total height of 128 metres and contains 32 floors: a double-height commercial ground floor and mezzanine, four office floors, and 28 residential floors, including a penthouse level. Access to the towers is organised through entrances at adjacent corners, each leading to a lobby and vertical circulation. The ground floor is designed to be open and permeable, preserved for active uses by the six levels of underground parking and services.
The towers are constructed in black pigmented concrete, their facade articulated by continuous vertical elements. This expression reinforces the project’s vertical orientation, a direct response to the limited footprint and the need to accommodate a substantial programme within a dense urban fabric. Interior spaces meanwhile place emphasis on controlled lighting and material consistency. Ceiling-mounted lightboxes provide warm ambient lighting in shared areas, offering clarity and orientation within a compact circulation core.
