For the re-use and conversion of this old town house in Valletta, the Unesco protected Capital City of Malta, we were asked to cater for a residential apartment on top, and two offices on the floors below. The outstanding views of the Grand Harbour provide the interiors qualities that automatically elevate the property to the highest niche on the market. As a result, materiality and tone were designed to provide a specific feeling for each and every one of the rooms in the building, with the view as the principal element of the composition.

In order to address planning regulations that stipulate separate entrances for residences and offices, a solution was found in the design of a double-helical staircase in a central room of the building. This added a new and unique identity to the property: a sensation of walking through a giant tree bark, with an element of playful hide-and-seek between one staircase and the other.

Winner of the Creative Re-use Category at the Inside Festival of Interiors Awards, 2011, in Barcelona.