This year’s President’s Award was presented to Valentino Architects, who demonstrated a keen sensitivity to materiality, place, and culture. Their work reflects a consistent depth of thought and a commitment to elevating the local context through refined design and craftsmanship.

The jury commended Valentino Architects for their bold professional risk-taking and the quality of execution across their submissions, which together represented a body of work deserving of this recognition.

Among the four shortlisted projects submitted, two received category awards:

Dar San Rokku — Adaptive Renovation Award
Stilla San Lazzru Guesthouse — Hospitality Design Award
VIP Terminal at the Malta International Airport — Hospitality Design Award (Winner)
Dar iċ-Ċitru — Single Dwelling Design Award (Winner)

Through these works, Valentino Architects have demonstrated how sensitivity, precision, and vision can converge to produce architecture that resonates deeply with its cultural and material setting.

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BOTHOUSE is a family home whose spine is a 25-metre pool, and whose heart is a giant light-well of perfectly round and centred glass plates.

A client-couple committed to the proliferation of early education spaces on the islands approached the architects with a pre-owned site and a desire to convert it into a family home. Previously used as a kindergarten, the plot abutted an industrial estate. Its proximity to industrial space seemingly blighted its potential as a desirable home, but its owners were resolute to conversion.

The Bothouse is a new intervention replacing former learning spaces – unremarkable in organisation or design. The project’s design ambition was to create communal space that united bold, sculptural geometry with pragmatic use. A lengthy central pool was integrated for exertion and entertainment but became one of a pair of the home’s strongest design elements.

The 25-metre lap-pool uninterruptedly connects the front and back gardens of the property, with elevated living space hovering overhead – a kitchen and living-dining area looks onto a communal garden. At ground, a square, open space looks through glazed façades, whilst the bathroom, kitchen and stair core are pulled aside to alleviate flexible footprint.

Connection through the house is created in two ways: through vertical circulation and through light. In the first instance, an off-shutter concrete staircase is suspended above the kitchen, with an extended plinth and foot resting beneath a large kitchen island. Light connects the lower living levels with ascending bedroom floors via a punctured light-well, sealed with three over-sized, triple-glazed discs cutting through the middle of the house. A puits de lumière sits at the top of the skylight. This extruded oculus is truncated towards the north, preventing solar gain from the south and homogenising the cool light floating into the generous interior.

Two additional square glass floor inserts maximise penetration of light through to the pool beneath the house. Continuity of light is matched by material consistency. One constant travertine finish emphasises cohesiveness between the interior at ground floor and the private flanking exterior spaces.

Bothouse is a statement to artful living. A space where activity is framed by the prowess of absolute geometry; where material, light and form become curators of the everyday.

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