Villa Sunshine is located in a prominent location of Ta’ Xbiex, a building influenced by the philosophies of the Modernist era. Its design is attributed to Mario Meneghello and believed to have been built in the 1960s.
The mass and form of the building borrows heavily from architectural influences of the past possibly to adhere to the somewhat conservative neighbourhood and surrounding buildings. The toned down ‘earth’ colour of the finished materials further reinforces this building’s attempt to camouflage itself among structures heavily influenced through forms of classicism.
Upon closer inspection, however, the building offers a lot more. The use of projecting and cantilevered reinforced concrete can be seen, a trademark of modern buildings, although this villa succeeds through its subtleties where others have failed through attempts of elaborateness.
Villa Sunshine manages to solidify itself among the greatest achievements of Modernism on the island in a controversial form of architectural design with its elongated window openings, heavy use of suspended panelling together with large and small continuous fins running vertically along the entire height of the villa. Its multi-faceted façade gives the impression that it is larger than its actual size.
The Malta Environment and Planning Authority scheduled Villa Sunshine as a Grade 2 monument on May 8 as per Government Notice 522.