Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1544871
7 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 MAY 2026 COMMERCIAL Studjurban gets Architizer A+ Awards special mention for Birgu Pjazza Project THE regeneration project of Birgu's main square by Studjur- ban completed last year, gained further international attention with a Special Mention award at the internationally recognised Architizer A+ Awards, placing it among a select group of pro- jects acknowledged by one of the world's most competitive archi- tecture platforms. Architizer is a New York–based architecture platform with its Architizer A+ Awards widely regarded as one of the largest global architecture awards pro- grammes attracting thousands of submissions from more than 70 countries, spanning architecture, urban design, interiors, and con- ceptual work. With a global digital reach ex- ceeding hundreds of millions of users, Architizer's awards have become a key benchmark for con- temporary architectural visibility and discourse. "In the context of Architizer's highly competitive categories, a Special Mention at these awards is a deeply prestigious recogni- tion of how our project for Birgu's main pjazza has stood out for its design merit, its conceptual clar- ity and its contextual relevance, especially when considering that less than 5% of the thousands of projects that were submitted were chosen as Special Mention hon- ourees," says Studjurban's found- er perit Dr Antoine Zammit. Dr Zammit explained that Bir- gu's Pjazza Vittoriosa project stands out because it represents a fundamental shift in how pub- lic space should be conceived and experienced. "At its core, our intervention reclaims the square as a social and cultural meeting place, trans- forming it from a car-dominated environment into a pedestri- an-first urban landscape that pri- oritises human interaction, acces- sibility, and spatial clarity," said Dr Zammit. Prior to the project, around three-quarters of the square was dominated by vehicles, leaving only 23% of the space for people. Today, 56.5% of the square has been reclaimed for pedestrians, with vehicular space reduced to 43.46%, effectively returning the square to the community. "The project also became a central example of Studjurban's approach to urban regeneration and public design and reflects the studio's ongoing commitment to rethinking Maltese urban spaces through context-sensitive inter- ventions that prioritise pedestri- an experience, spatial clarity, and cultural continuity," added Zam- mit. This latest international recog- nition for Studjurban adds to its growing list of accolades, includ- ing the BIG SEE Awards and the Malta Business Awards as Local Cultural Contributor, further consolidating the studio's po- sition as one of Malta's leading voices in contemporary urban design. Terra Quantum brings quantum-secure communications to live telecom infrastructure TERRA Quantum, a global leader in quantum technology, together with Melita Business and Merqury Cybersecurity, a leading developer of quantum key management and quantum network control solutions, today announced the successful de- ployment of a Quantum Key Dis- tribution (QKD) link connecting Melita's two main data centers in Malta. The system enables the exchange of cryptographic keys secured by quantum technology across Melita's live fiber network, demonstrating that quantum-se- cure communication can operate on existing telecommunications infrastructure. The deployment represents an important milestone in bringing quantum security from research environments into operation- al telecom networks. Much like the transition from unencrypt- ed to encrypted internet traffic in the early 2000s, quantum key distribution is poised to become the next foundational layer of security for global communica- tions. As quantum computing advances, widely used public key encryption methods will become vulnerable, making quantum-se- cure communication increas- ingly important. Consequently, quantum-secure communication technologies are becoming criti- cal for protecting telecom infra- structure, financial systems, and government networks. Quantum security on existing telecom infrastructure A key achievement of the de- ployment is that the QKD sys- tem operates over Melita's exist- ing lit fiber infrastructure using Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM). Unlike many experimental quantum communication systems that re- quire dedicated dark fiber, this installation demonstrates that quantum-secure key exchange can operate within active telecom networks without any infrastruc- ture modifications. The system connected Melita's primary data centers and ena- bled the secure exchange of cryp- tographic keys used to protect sensitive communications. By in- tegrating Terra Quantum's QKD technology with Merqury's net- working hardware and key man- agement capabilities, the partners created a fully integrated quan- tum-secure networking solution. Terra Quantum's proprietary QKD technology enables prova- bly secure encryption for critical network infrastructure. It is a loss control-based system that deliv- ers quantum-safe key exchange over optical fiber, including crit- ical security components: • Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG) producing truly unpredictable cryptograph- ic keys • Optical Time-Domain Reflec- tometry (OTDR) to continuously monitor the fiber link and detect potential intrusion attempts Together, these technologies enable provably secure encryp- tion for critical digital infrastruc- ture, ensuring that any attempt to intercept communications can be detected. Demonstrating quantum networking in real-world con- ditions During deployment, the part- ners successfully implemented Terra Quantum's QKD tech- nology on active telecom fiber infrastructure and integrated the system with Merqury's key management system via a stand- ards-aligned REST API. The deployment has handled tens of thousands of key requests with zero unplanned client-im- pacting incidents, demonstrating stable operation in a live telco environment. These results vali- date the feasibility of integrating quantum security into live tele- communications networks and accelerate the transition toward commercial quantum-secure communication services. "By successfully operating our quantum key distribution tech- nology on a live telecom network, we are proving that quantum security can be integrated in- to existing infrastructure today, moving from research laborato- ries into real-world deployment. This represents a major step to- ward building the quantum-se- cure communication backbone Europe will rely on in the future." said Markus Pflitsch, Founder and CEO of Terra Quantum. Matthew Farrugia, Technical Head of Service Delivery & Data Centre at Melita, emphasized the importance of the project: "En- suring the highest level of secu- rity for the connection between our data centers is essential. Quantum cryptography provides a powerful new layer of protec- tion and allows us to detect any attempt to compromise the com- munication link." Noel Farrugia, Chief Technol- ogy Officer at Merqury Cyberse- curity, added: "Quantum secu- rity only becomes useful when it can be deployed, controlled and monitored as any other sys- tem on a network. By integrating Terra Quantum's QKD technol- ogy with Merqury's quantum network management suite, we have shown that quantum-secure services can move beyond the lab and into real telecom operations." Toward Europe's quantum-se- cure communication infrastruc- ture The successful deployment in Malta represents a significant step toward large-scale quantum networking and the realization of Europe's future quantum-se- cure communication infrastruc- ture. The program supports Europe's efforts to establish a continent-wide quantum-secure communications network, ensur- ing long-term protection for crit- ical data while strengthening Eu- rope's technological sovereignty.