Architecture & Design

10 | Architecture & Design St Johns Co Cathedral: The new tapestry hall. Artist impression. professionally, never accepting the status quo. WHAT HAVE YOU BROUGHT TO ARCHITECTURE IN MALTA? Another difficult question! What makes you think I brought anything to architecture? Perhaps, I would feel more comfortable to say that I have contributed to changing the profession, the 'perit', to better respond to the contemporary needs of the industry. I suppose that I have been able to do this, given that I have been teaching for over forty years, and that I have also been involved in the 'politics' of the profession, through my membership (and presidency) of the Kamra tal-Periti - which culminated, after more than a ten-year saga, to a new law regulating the profession. Actually, I was involved both in the Periti Act of 2000, the first change since the 1919 Architects' Ordnance, as well as in the new 2020 one. CAN YOU COMMENT ON SOME OF YOUR RECENT PROJECTS? You have to appreciate that in my professional practice, projects are based on team work and collaboration. So, to talk of my recent projects, I have to talk of "our" recent projects. And our most important projects are always the current ones, irrespective of scale. The project that has been the centre of our work over the last couple of years is certainly the transformation of the old Farsons Brewery into a contemporary office space, and a monument to over 70 years of brewing by Malta's foremost beer company. This is a project which we have been working on in collaboration with Ian Ritchie, and which is nearing completion. It is a project where architectural design, structural engineering, conservation and technical innovation combine to do what architecture is meant to do - create beautiful spaces, spaces which are beautiful to walk through, beautiful to work in, and beautiful to see. A legacy for the future. Another project completed in the last decade is the Life Sciences Park in San Gwann, which, I feel,is important because it redefined the quality of industrial cum office buildings in Malta, in industrial areas. WHICH ARE THE PROJECTS YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF AND WHICH ARE YOUR LEAST FAVOURITE? My favourite projects are obviously those in which I had a leading role in both the architectural design and the structural engineering. The ICT building in the University of Malta is one such building, where the main material is glass and steel. I am also proud of the Mriehel BOV building, as well as of what is now the Transport Malta Administrative Centre in Mosta. I am also particularly proud of the main staircase, which is the centre piece of the Farsons Logistics Administration Extension, which we completed in 2018, and which won a Premju E.L.Galizia for Engineering Excellence. I am also proud of some structural engineering works which are not visible, such as the first reinforced concrete flat slab structures in Malta, in the Park Tower and Plaza projects, or the foundations of the steel arches of the Protective Covers over the Ħagar Main staircase of Farsons Logistics Aministration Extension

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