Malta's population has increased by 4% over the last year, and gentrification is disrupting the traditional makeup of neighborhoods. So how can we build a sustainable future?

Located in San Gwann, near La Valletta, in the heart of Malta, where the suburban housing and industrial areas meet each other, we proposed a contemporary and playful limestone box-stacking volumetry as a building for a new Blood, Cells, and Tissue clinic.

To guarantee a building that requires to be relatively close to the outside, the blocks' positions and different sizes create some platforms that allow the entrance of natural light into the inside rooms. Simultaneously, the exterior spaces that result from the overlapping of the volumes are thought of as outdoor gardens, which can be used by the adjacent space or simply as a green roof.

From the oldest free-standing temples in the world to the dry-stone rubble walls outlining fields, majestic fortifications, grand churches, opulent palazzos, and modest townhouses, the history of Malta is built in limestone.

Since limestone has been quarried and used for construction since time immemorial, it ended up defining perfectly the country’s landscape. Our proposal is softly integrated into the Maltese atmosphere, taking inspiration from the local architecture and materiality, respecting the site and the people, and at the same time embracing and adjusting to the scale of the urban complex.

In the project, we build an enduring future by using recycled blocks of limestone settling on the idea of using the traditional material of Malta, respecting the local constructive methods and traditional architecture, as well as taking into consideration the environmental cause, and helping reduce the energy consumption and CO2 emissions.