Zaiwa Libya

Intersection No. 1 leading into the town of Zaiwa.

Intersection No. 2 leading onto the Oil Refinery off the town of Zaiwa.

The structural design consisted of calculating & detailing the bridge decks in composite steel-concrete construction, supported on a framework of reinforced concrete columns, as founded on sand. The design of abutments was also undertaken.

Meetings were undertaken with the Municipality of Zaiwa engineers to confirm the design of these 2 intersections.

Floriana Project

The project aims to develop a study for Environmental and Social Regeneration in Malta through a Sustainable Urban and Transport Solution. The main scope of this project is to transform a highly polluted arterial road into a green strip, gaining access to Malta’s capital city. In the conceptual model, the transformation of St. Anne Street is achieved by shifting the traffic flow underground, thus liberating the surface to be designed as a new recreational/pedestrian space for both public and tourists. Such a project would inject new life into Floriana and would regenerate the city on several levels by turning it back to its original Green City.

The impact this project will have on Malta 

The Model for Urban Sustainable Regeneration would be a maiden project of its kind. Currently Malta is focused on improving its road infrastructure since society as a whole is focused on using the car as a mode of transport. The model of the Green City would start a process for a change in mentality for future generations to shift the current modes of transportation. The greater benefit however, is the social regeneration that would be injected into the core of the location as such a project would improve both the visual and the community aspect of a town. The project aims to impact :

• Increasing Green spaces in urban planning. 
• Encouraging alternate transportation.
• Promote Sustainability in urban projects.
• Show the Social Movement as a means of reviving villages and town centres off the usual tourist track.
• Promote Quality in Urban development.

Stainless Steel Products Malta

An expansion project included the acquisition of an existing adjacent low steel shed type building.  The floor level was excavated in rock to achieve the desired factory height, whilst also obtaining the same floor  level for the entire factory complex.

The adjacent 12.0m site adjoining the new with the old premises was then utilized as a link block. A high steel structure was here erected to achieve a steel gantry structure.

Grade 2 Building, Sliema

The project entailed the restoration of a Grade 2 British Neo-Classical building in Sliema. The building consisted of several unique elements, such as unique decorative stonework and s particular type of mechanical louvers. The subtle interventions undertaken restored the building to it’s former glory.

Project status: Complete

Private Project, Birgu

The project consisted of the rehabilitation and restoration of a quaint corner house in the vicinity of Victory Square in Birgu. The house has two facades of contrasting design, with one containing ornate details, whilst the other being more subtle and simplified. The task entrusted to the office was to oversee restoration works of the building and come up with a rehabilitation proposal for the building. The rich internal details were conserved and integrated within the proposal, which will result in a very traditional Maltese building with a hint of a contemporary feel.

Project status: Ongoing

Montgomery House

The building was originally erected in 1732, to serve as a country house for the Grand Master Maonel de Vilhena in 1732. After his passing the building became known as the Market House and it fulfilled the role as an administrative building to the adjacent Granaries. Further works to the original building were undertaken by the British in 1826 and the building became known as The Pavilion. During the British period the building served as an Officer’s Mess for British Forces who were occupying several barracks in Floriana. 

The restoration works undertaken have taken care of the individual elements of the building to create an authentic historical building. During the process of the works, the façade was studied section by section to cater for interventions that would stir the viewer’s curiosity. The building has a myriad of small details, some unnoticeable that reflect the grander events that Malta was in.

The energy performance of the building was also taken into consideration, by having an overhaul of the building’s fenestrations. The unique job entailed surveying the design of the old, deteriorated apertures and extrapolating them onto new double glazed apertures, with a unique frame texture befitting the context of not just the building but the historical context of the area as well.

Bormla Palazzo

The project consisted of the rehabilitation and restoration of a Palazzo in Bormla. The building which encompassed highly detail architectural elements was deteriorating rapidly, due to the lack of maintenance. The interventions proposed minimized replacement of original elements including the timber. This was achieved with great success, resulting in a restoration job that defined the intricate details of the building.

Luqa

Again a lean design has been adopted for this project with the addition of an additional 2 floors on the existing construction, together with a recessed floor for the penthouse level. Lean design calls for extending existing buildings, thus minimising waste of the materials & energy already invested in these structures & the amount of additional material used, whilst utilizing existing foundation works in place.

The additional floors for parking facilities with clear spans of 14.5m, is on the limit for the economic use of prestressed hollow core slabs. The recessed penthouse level envisaged for office use, is to be roofed over via a cantilevered solution in reinforced concrete. A vertical core in reinforced masonry is being inserted to achieve enhanced lateral stability for this vertically extended building.

HSBC Malta (Seismic Retrofitting)

ANOTHER FACE TO MALTA

A pre 1980’s block to the HSBC (Malta) in their Operations Centre Qormi, has currently being upgraded & retrofitted seismically. This block had deteriorated structurally and had been vacated for the past number of years. The decision had been undertaken over the past 4-year period to go for a lean structural solution, whilst retaining the existing volumetric space to be reverted to office use.

Lean structural designs tend to reduce embodied carbon for development projects. Nowadays it is noted that a solution that does not rely on the existing building, involves almost 50% more embodied carbon than one that can justify the increase in load on the existing structures & foundations. Hence retrofitting existing buildings minimises waste of the materials & energy already invested in these structures & the amount of additional material used.

The seismic retrofitting works includes for the insertion of a central staircase/lift core in reinforced concrete with its raft foundation acting as ballast weight to the overturning forces, together with the insertion of 8 vertical trusses in circular hollow steel sections, located on the façade in structural masonry.

Boutique Hotel Proposal Valletta