Architecture & Design

Architecture & Design | 11 and distribution facility which was designed with an iconic curved green roof over the office building. WHICH ARE THE PROJECTS YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF AND WHICH ARE YOUR LEAST FAVOURITE? Our office designs a vast typology of projects, from small developments such as the restoration and extension of a five hundred year old one-room development in the countryside of Bidnija to the multi-use development of Fortina at Sliema to house iGaming offices, apartments and hotel facilities. We look at all our projects with equal importance, regardless of scale or budget, and therefore it would be difficult to say which I was most or least proud of. I am however always particularly content when urban design principles can be incorporated into any project. To give just two examples – the OneOneO project at the Sliema Strand was an opportunity for our office to produce luxurious residential units whilst designing a uniform street façade. When designing this project we sought to upgrade the public promenade, and therefore rather than constructing the development up to the building line as is conventionally done, we chose instead to sacrifice valuable and developable area at the ground and intermediate level and instead left open space so as to connect our development to the public promenade. Diagonal load-bearing piloti columns were introduced to create a playful change to the façade's volumetric linearity, creating a sense of movement inspired by the waves directly in front of the development. The importance of open sheltered spaces and their benefit to any community cannot be understated and this open area provides a widened sheltered walkway for pedestrians throughout this busy precinct of Sliema. Another example would be the British Building at AUM, whereby through our design interventions we ensured that many historical elements such as the dock pump equipment were not only restored but exhibited within the cafeteria, thus guaranteeing that they could be enjoyed by the public and in particular by the residents of the Three Cities. I was touched to be personally approached by many older citizens to tell me how much they enjoyed visiting the cafeteria to see this equipment, many of whom could tell me how this brought back memories of their own experiences working at the Dock no 1. O n e O n e O

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