With the Mercury House at its base, the project's new developments emerge from behind the house so that it can remain as a focal point. The developments include a large public piazza surrounded by cafes and shops, and most noticeably, a new 31-story apartment and hotel tower.

Designed as two vertically stacked volumes, the tower is aligned at street level to better integrate with its existing urban surroundings and to reduce its footprint, ZHA says. The building's insulated facade has limited glazing to provide shade for areas that receive significant amounts of direct sunlight.

The lower 9-story volume comprises the apartments, while the higher 19-story volume houses the hotel rooms, which are rotated toward the Mediterranean Sea to provide guests with more optimal views. The tower's transitioning floors between the two volumes (levels 10, 11, and 12) feature the hotel's “dramatic” reception lobby and an outdoor swimming pool that offers coveted views of the sea.

Project credits:

Client: J.Portelli Projects, Malta
Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA)
Design: Zaha Hadid with Patrik Schumacher
Project Director: Manuela Gatto
Design Associate: Jakub Klaska
Project Architects: Alberto Barba, Carolina López-Blanco, Kutbuddin
Nadiadi, Yevgeniya Pozigun
Project Consultants: Branko Svarcer, John Simpson
Interiors Lead: Kar-Hwa Ho
Facades Lead: Tomasz Starczewski
Project Team: Houzhe Xu, Jung Yeon Kwak, Mark Winnington, Alejandro Garcia Gadea, Catherine Mccann, Evgeniya Yatsyuk, Olga Yatsyuk, Rachelle Spiteri, Yazhu Liang, Yun Zhang, Julian Lin, Sai Prateik Bhasgi, Li Jin, Reza Karimi, Jose Alberto Mariano Machon, Matthew Johnston, Mattia Gambardella

Retail Pavilion
Project Architect: Gerhild Orthacker
Project Team: Michail Desyllas, Evgeniya Yatsyuk, John Simpson
Concept Design Team: Jakub Klaska, Benjamin Sachs, Evgeniya Yatsyuk, Nan Jiang, Jose Pareja-Gomez, Aleksandra Mnich, Garin O’Aivazian, Chao Wei, Damiano Rizzini, Mu Ren, Karoly Markos, Nicholette Chan, Seungho Yeo, Carolina Lopez-Blanco, Ashwin Shah, Claudia Doner, Tetsuya Yamazaki
Project Administrator: Nastasija Hahonina
Graphic Designer: Silviya Barzakova
ZHA Cluster Director: Charles Walke

Local Architect: Annamaria Attard Montalto, Malta

Façade and Glazing Engineers: Werner Sobek, UK
Lighting Engineers: Bartenbach
Vibration and Acoustics: ARAU ACUSTICA, Spain
Structure: BAC Engineering Consultancy Group, Spain
Structure: Evolve Consulting Structural and Civil Engineers
MEP Engineers: ECL Consulting Engineers, Malta
Fire Protection and Life Safety: Atelier Ten, UK
Planning Consultants: ERSLI Consultants, Malta
Restoration Consultant: Perit Marie Louise Caruana Galea, Malta
Waste Consultant: Desiree Bajada
Landscape Consultants: Medisun, Malta
Wind Loads / Pedestrian Comfort: RWDI UK, UK
Virtual Reality Studios: VRs
Geological Stability / Dust and Vibration Monitoring: Terracore, Malta
Project Management Consultants: Pmanage Ltd, Malta
Operational Monitor: Perit John Papagiorcopulo; Perit, Malta
Tourism Consultant: Mario Loporto, Malta
Visualizations: VA, Czech Republic

All images courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects.