Local architect finalist in international design awards

A Valletta-based architecture firm has been named as one of the category finalists in a prestigious international competition launched this year to award excellence in design and architecture. The competition was organised by UK-based Grand Designs Magazine, and other winning projects hailed from Brazil, the UK and Japan.

Chris Briffa Architects were among the six finalists nominated for the 'Best Remodelled House' category with a recent project they had undertaken in Mosta. It, along with the other projects shortlisted, was featured in the magazine's 'special winners book' published with this month's issue.

The nominated project is a single family house, which was partly demolished and remodelled with a contemporary approach. The firm, alongside their entry, had said that the innovation also lies in the layout of the project, a tenacious development from the typical Maltese courtyard farmhouse, typically oriented with a loggia facing south and external staircases to the upper floors. The house also features a projecting south-facing louvered screen designed to let inside the winter sun and provide shade in the summer months.

Christened 'home in garden', the clients had bought an odd triangular house with a large back garden and wanted a compact house which retains as much garden as possible. Following the client's brief, the scheme attempts to minimise the edge between inside and outside. Sliding doors internally disappear when open and pack on the façade, while exterior walls, floors and the small pool gently slide into the dwelling's interior spaces.

Together with the other finalists - including internationally acclaimed architects from Allison Brooks Architects, John Pardey Architects, Kohki Hiranuma; industrial designers Starck, James Patterson, Industrial Facility; and product manufacturers Hansgrohe, Boffi, Habitat and Siemens - representatives from the firm attended the award ceremony on June 2, at the ExCel Complex in the London Docklands, presented by Kevin McCloud.

The other categories included Best New-build Home; Restoration project; Eco-house; Remodelled house; Housing development; Eco product; Interior furnishing; Kitchen product; Bathroom product; and Garden product.

Chris Briffa Architects was established in 2004 by Chris Briffa. He studied at the University of Malta and Virgina Tech (USA), and recently attended a specialisation course on hotel design at the Politecnico di Milano.

All the nominees online at: www.granddesignsmagazine.com/awards/GDMAWinners2.pdf. More pictures of the Mosta house at: www.chrisbriffa.com.