Team

Client: AX Group

Lead Perit/i: C&K Architecture

Architectural Design: C&K Architecture

Interior Design: AX Developments

Planning Consulting: ADI

Geotechnical Engineering: SCE

Structural Engineering: SCE

Building Systems Engineering: E&M Engineering

Fire Engineering: Fabio Stivala

Mechanical & Electrical Engineering: E&M Engineering

Project Management: Jags

Hotels, especially those with a particular focus on wellness, have become spaces that reinterprete and elevate the ideals of quality of life and sophistication we aspire to. With unparalleled site specificity the “Verdala Wellness Hotel” seeks to embody this richness, offering guests an elevated hospitality experience through the carefully crafted aura of its spaces defined by a warm material palette of granite, marble, plaster, carpet, and raw wood.

The solid mass is perforated to create permeability on the ground plane across a triple void pyramidal reception area stretching from one end of the building to the other – dissolving boundaries and enhancing public connectivity – from the public street across to the more private hotel gardens on the other side of the building offering uninterrupted panoramic views across the valley and beyond. This same internal hollow subdivides the building programmatically and is linked by bridges at the respective levels. Planimetrically, the structural framework of the building is twisted for two primary reasons: firstly emanating from a somewhat egoistic desire to maximise on strategic viewpoints; and secondly from a sense of civic awareness to provide a skewed vista and avoid direct frontal confrontation with the buildings across the street. Volumetrically, the building responds to its context: from a sense of solidity at the entrance, reflecting the townscape, to a layered, eroded façade that echoes the Maltese geological formations. These erosions create intimate spaces, primarily at the lower level housing the spa, while the landscape is designed to extend upward, integrating seamlessly with this same level. The hotel celebrates the dialogue between the ridge, the landscape, and the street, a spa area which incorporates a pool which is at once indoors and indoors – spaces flowing from outdoors to indoors merely separated by a glass sheet.

As a respectful gesture toward the rear residential block to the East — and with the aim of improving views and enhancing outlook both from the residential apartments and from within the hotel — the building mass on that side is shaved and re-oriented away from the residential block. Ultimately, the building is gently sculpted to follow the contours of the landscape, striving toward a timeless expression of architecture.

The Verdala Wellness Hotel transcends mere accommodation, becoming a sculpted experience where architecture, landscape, and atmosphere converge. Every form, void, and material has been carefully considered to engage the senses, foster well-being, and create moments of discovery. From the dialogue with its surrounding context to the intimate spaces within, the hotel embodies a harmonious balance between sophistication and serenity, offering guests not just a stay but an immersive journey that evokes emotions lingering in memory.

Images © Kurt Arrigo, Julian Vassallo, Ramon Portelli

The post The Verdala Wellness Hotel & Spa, ir-Rabat, Malta appeared first on Premju Emanuele Luigi Galizia.

Team

Lead Perit/i: Valentino Architects

Architectural Design: Valentino Architects

Planning Consulting: Valentino Architects

Geotechnical Engineering: Terracore

Structural Engineering: Perit Peter Zammit

Interior Design: Valentino Architects

Landscaping Design: Melina Scodanibbio Garden Design

Building Systems Engineering: MTS Consulting

Project Management: Projects Department within MIA

Located just metres from the runway, the new VIP Terminal at the Malta International Airport offers an alternative to the main terminal experience – one that is composed, efficient, and intentional – reflecting the building’s operational purpose.

With separate access and a full concierge service, the terminal allows travellers to bypass standard airport procedures in favour of a quieter, more personal journey.

The VIP terminal has long been in operation as a detached building with two wings: the west wing dedicated to Commercially Important Persons (CIP) and the east reserved for Ministerial and Diplomatic use. The project brief called for the demolition and reconstruction of the CIP terminal, expanding its capacity to meet growing demand – whilst retaining the east wing.

The stone structure of the former CIP terminal was carefully deconstructed: its limestone blocks salvaged, sliced, and reworked to reveal fresh surfaces. Each piece was hand-textured with the traditional ‘mannarett’ chisel, a tool long used by Maltese stoneworkers. This gave the building a new stone skin, rich in texture and rhythm, while avoiding the environmental cost of new stone.

The recycled stone was made central to the building’s aesthetic: a clear demonstration of how Malta’s precious stone, too often sent to landfill during demolition, can be elevated to meet the standards of a high-end architectural project. This is both a sustainable gesture and a cultural one, embedding the new terminal with the material memory of its predecessor.

The design was guided by two clear intentions: First, to create a strong sense of place: ensuring travellers immediately recognise that they have arrived in Malta, not through overt symbols, but through the atmosphere of the spaces, their proportions and materials. Second, to ensure the new building sits comfortably alongside the retained east wing, distinct yet complementary.

The architecture is deliberately elemental: thick stone walls, rough plaster, and filtered daylight. These are not generic luxury materials, but ones that speak authentically of Malta: sun-bleached, tactile, and enduring. The ground-level limestone walls give the terminal a grounded presence rooted in the island’s architectural heritage. Above, a white plastered volume contrasts with the stone, offering calm and shelter to the spaces formed between the stone blocks below.

The interiors balance openness with privacy: a generous main lounge on the ground floor filled with natural light, and intimate first-floor suites with private terraces overlooking the runway. Above, an uncluttered roof supports a large solar array that generates a significant share of the terminal’s energy needs.

What sets this terminal apart is its deep engagement with place. Rather than relying on imported finishes or high-tech spectacle, the terminal offers something quieter and more enduring: a contemporary expression of Maltese identity, rooted in craft, care, and permanence.

Images © Julian Vassallo

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Team

Client: Stilla

Lead Perit/i: Valentino Architects

Architectural Design: Valentino Architects

Planning Consulting: Valentino Architects

Structural Engineering: Perit Kenneth Rausi

Conservation: Valentino Architects

Interior Design: Valentino Architects

Building Systems Engineering: Beenel

General Client Consulting: Mark Pace

Project Management: Francesca Tabone

A hospitality conversion in Cospicua, this studios-only guesthouse explores how architectural constraints and historic context inform a design language rooted in materiality and temporal layering.

Sited within a narrow residential alley in Cospicua’s Urban Conservation Area, Stilla San Lazzru is the first completed guesthouse in Stilla, Malta’s pioneering albergo diffuso across the Three Cities. Conceived as a series of four independent studios, the project introduces new hospitality typologies into the historic fabric through calibrated spatial interventions.

Working within the constraints of a compact historic dwelling, the design introduces a sensitively scaled vertical extension, maintaining the original street-facing façade while expanding internal volume. Split-level arrangements make use of generous ceiling heights to define varied spatial rhythms across the interiors. Circulation is anchored by a new oak staircase that intersects with a retained original stone stair — binding past and present through functional continuity.

Interiors embrace texture and tactility. Restored timber beams, reused patterned tiles, and lime-washed walls sit in dialogue with contemporary insertions. Custom birch plywood furniture is paired with curated vintage pieces, while en-suite bathrooms are articulated through distinct marble palettes, lending each studio a quiet individuality.

The studios were designed as stand-alone units for a post-pandemic world – compact but including all necessary facilities like kitchenettes to make them suitable for both short and longer stays.

A second Stilla guesthouse in Senglea being designed by Valentino Architects continues the studio’s exploration of light, scale, and layering within heritage contexts. Further guesthouses forming part of the wider Stilla albergo diffuso are being designed by a cohort of Maltese practices, establishing a collective design conversation across the Three Cities.

Images © Julian Vassallo

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