Winners announced for government villas, Vlora and Velipoja with the Melia brand, projects

2025-06-05 08:43:00, Aktualitet CNA

Winners announced for government villas, Vlora and Velipoja with the Melia

The jury announced this Wednesday the winners of two projects that will revitalize and redesign the government villas in Velipojë and Vlora.

What both have in common is the participation of the Melia brand, which already has a wide presence in our country with several projects.

The jury representative said that for Velipoja the winner was the project presented by Saunders Studio. “Xhenis sh.LLC, Saunders Architecture, Smart Studio, VOGT, Adnan Kastrati, Melia Hotel International” participate in this project.

But what does the project envisage? The studio representative said during the presentation that the aim is to preserve the existing building by surrounding it with a new concept he described as "embracing".

Velipoja, a new experience while preserving the past

"The idea was to keep the villa as it was in the first sketch when we entered the competition. To maintain and preserve this villa. It should tell the past."

The whole building shouldn't be like a castle, but people should want to come in and see it. I wanted this building to be an identity in itself. It gives an experience. We decided to build the parking lot underneath so it wouldn't be visible and our team doesn't need much infrastructure.

We think we will have 30 rooms and have infrastructure in the other hotel. The first floor can be a public part that will be a building for all people, even other hotels can use it. There should also be a quality SPA, then there are the rooms that are upstairs and the conference room.

Winners announced for government villas, Vlora and Velipoja with the Melia

"The tower part is a tower and the whole part of the building has no rooms. We're turning it into a museum. When you leave the conference room you go to the terraces and from the terrace you go to the tower. The rooms are upstairs, they look out into the forest and they're in privacy up there. There's a natural pool," he said.

During the presentation, the Prime Minister highlighted whether it was possible to remove the tower as an option, while the architecture studio argued that it was a part that served the view to add value by looking out over the sea, the forest, and the sunsets in the distance.

Vlora resort for a luxurious experience with a focus on health

For Vlora, the winner was the project presented by studio Precht and which includes Edil Al, Zdrava, studio Arga, Studio Precht, Studio V10, Jeshile, Ledia Kostandini, Lindita Pelivani, Altisfer Golloshi, Holtzbau Majer, Melia Hotels & Resorts.

The representative of the architectural studio that made the presentation said that there were three questions that the staff faced during the preparation of the project. Why should tourists come here, what is Albania currently missing, and the business plan for how to achieve this?

Winners announced for government villas, Vlora and Velipoja with the Melia

"The first component is that we are dealing with a small sleeper and a small number of rooms which means less clutter. This is the heart of the project. The idea is that we want to build two structures with a small construction footprint. All the buildings surrounding it are 8-10 stories.

Here we have the opportunity to have a monumental space with greater height but a smaller construction footprint, but facing west and being a kind of silhouette that frames the view.

There will be a swimming pool that connects the buildings. The second component is to be exclusive, so to attract the travelers we talked about and to attract a new tourism audience and not necessarily someone who is interested in the luxury of marble and Ferraris but in the luxury of experience, so an exclusive experience.

Winners announced for government villas, Vlora and Velipoja with the Melia

The buildings are simple, spacious rooms. Each room has two sides, facing the sunrise and sunset. The works will be wood. The third ingredient that gives the whole thing a base to lean on: it is healthy, so a space that promises health, so it is a space that regenerates, and we have turned this into a center for health, not a clinic but for those people who are aware of care and health.

Winners announced for government villas, Vlora and Velipoja with the Melia

"We have proposed several tree houses that surround it, embedded in the trees. In the next phase, there may also be residential buildings, since the space is large and the return on investment with just the initial project is quite slow," he said./ Monitor Magazine