Walking into the Marsa open centre for migrants can be somewhat of a balancing act as the outdoor paving leading to the residential blocks is fairly worn out.

Sleeping quarters needed to be redesigned to allow more privacy between beds

So a group of architecture students came up with a cheap idea to revamp the area by collecting used tiles and allowing skilled migrants to turn them into mosaic paving that reflects their culture.

The university students also drew up a range of proposals on how to improve privacy and sanitary conditions and maximise on the space by, for example, removing asbestos roofs from three buildings that are practically unused.

The proposals formed part of a project for third year architecture students and the designs are on display at the old trade school, adjacent to the Marsa open centre’s entrance, until today.

Student Justin Zarb, the vice president of the Society of Architecture and Civil Engineering Students, said the project originated when voluntary organisation Get Up Stand Up approached students to design a library for migrants at the centre.

The project eventually evolved into a project to redesign the whole centre. Mr Zarb said students faced a challenging task as they had to design a centre that hosted a lot of people and keep costs at a minimum.

Speaking about his project, Mr Zarb said that on visiting the centre, his team felt that improving sanitary conditions was a priority.

When the old trade school was converted into the migrants’ centre, domestic bathrooms were installed as opposed to industrial ones. These needed to be gutted and replaced with better facilities.

Sleeping quarters had to be redesigned to allow more privacy between beds with the installation of cheap partitions that also allowed ventilation, he said.

At the moment the centre also houses a Sudanese restaurant and an Eritrean bar situated on opposite poles of the centre. Students suggested bringing the entertainment establishments under the same roof – into the old tram station located just outside the centre’s main entrance.

This would ensure the restaurant and bar were separate from the residential quarters and encourage Maltese to visit the venues and experience different cultures. Mr Zarb added that three large buildings within the centre, including the tram station, were barely being used as they had asbestos roofs that had to be replaced. Although it was not dangerous to enter these building, the roofs required maintenance and that was when the asbestos became a health hazard.

The exhibition is open until today at the tram station between 3 and 8 p.m.