Architect Gilbert Buttigieg’s vision for restoration work on the centuries-old Palazzo Vittoriosa earned him the top architectural award in this year’s Din l-Art Ħelwa competition. He tells Ramona Depares about the challenging metamorphosis of a noble building into a functional, modern space.

Set within the Collacchio, the old Knights’ quarters, Palazzo Vittoriosa is one of the most impressive buildings in the old city. Up till a short time ago, however, its magnificence was somewhat tempered by the fact that it was in dire need of renovation.

Enter architect Gilbert Buttigieg and his vision for a newly functional building that could serve as a boutique hotel, without losing its essential identity and characteristics. One year and eight months down the line, this same vision earned the architect the Din L-Art Ħelwa prix d’honneur in Category B in the last edition of the Cultural Heritage Awards.

“Today, the building is being used for one of the most upmarket and contemporary functions you can think of, being rented out together with in-house chef, offering traditional cuisine. The owners offer a tailor-made service, with every client’s need planned and catered for throughout their stay. It doesn’t get more 21st-century than this,” says Gilbert.

Twenty-first century it may well be, but thanks to the architect’s concept, this modern functionality has been married to the building’s original roots almost seamlessly.

The result is a house whose patterns allow for lifestyle patterns that can be performed in complete seclusion, away from external disturbances

“The building needed to elicit a sense of calm within the discerning visitor, giving an individual experience to whoever stays here. The existing 16 th-century house had to be restored, with its original features retained as far as possible, while the new additions had to present themselves individually and in harmonic resonance with the existing geometry and proportions.”

Quite a tall order by any standard... Gilbert explains how the concept behind his design followed as a direct effect of the way spaces interact with our deepest nature; our emotions. From the very first time he laid eyes on the palazzo, he was enthralled. The condition of the house needed immediate attention. However, the existing spaces had a special attribute, within their geometry.

“All individual rooms and open courtyards have geometrical proportions that are in proportion to one another and also to the whole. This might seem insignificant, but we can observe these geometric progressions in all of nature’s physical manifestations. Once I had found this key, I could determine how to extend the new additions within the existing fabric and choose what emotions to convey within the new spaces by its geometry.”

Moreover, the building presented an interaction with natural elements, from the large, open courtyard with sheltered walkways to the internal rooms that overlook the yard in the traditional order. The result is a house whose patterns allow for lifestyle patterns that can be performed in complete seclusion, away from external disturbances.

Of course, despite the palazzo’s natural advantages, a number of elements had to be kept in mind – elements that are common to any restoration projects. Gilbert explains that when approaching any restoration, an architect is invariably faced with two general scenarios: one offers a building that has hardly undergone any intervention and is usually in a bad state of repair due to neglect; the second involves an old building that has been upgraded in previous years with an improper intervention. Every case has its particular “disease” and needs to be properly diagnosed to bring to a minimum the state of decay.

“The palazzo had had various interventions over the years. One of the biggest problems was the concrete pointing work carried out approximately 30 years ago. This prohibited rising salts from reaching the stone surfaces. Crystallisation of salts was happening within the stone itself, disintegrating it from the inside, and there were instances where a whole stone block had deteriorated, with cement pointing still standing around the eroded stonework,” Gilbert points out.

This stone was replaced with the traditional hydraulic lime mixtures that allow for a breathable mortar, causing the salts to crystallise on the outside without causing any damage.

“Following the restoration, we observed salts ‘sweating’ out of the stone fabric, until it reached a point of equilibrium again and exposed stone could be enjoyed without excessive dusting.”

When applying services, the restoration team covered particular walls in plasterboards to create accent points of reference within the rooms.

Modern lifestyle requirements, however, didn’t take too long to create a potential stumbling block: how to arrive to a structural solution to support a 100-tonne pool and supporting structure on the rooftop, enjoying views of Valletta. In the end, the supporting structure was hidden within the thicknessof walls, some of which were up to four feet wide.

So was there anything within the building itself that Gilbert would have changed?

“Well, any intervention is a change to the building, even if it’s simply a change in ownership. Physically, I would change nothing of the original structure. I like to compare the building and its renovation to a caterpillar.

“Most work involved manual labour, due to the processes of restoration and limited access to the site. Some people could not envisage such a high-end product in such a location and openly viewed their concerns. But all in all, after the hard work and tribulations, just when the caterpillar thought life was over, it became a butterfly. More than a change, this intervention was a metamorphosis.”

Although the restoration and construction were done over a period of eight months, the whole project took about two years of bureaucratic processes before the necessary permits were finalised. And even after restoration was completed, a further year needed to be added to allow for servicing, finishing and furnishing the house.

“No legislation or guidelines were present for such developments and we had to lay tracks and stations as we proceeded to our goal,” says Gilbert.

The hard work was more than worth it when Gilbert’s project was awarded the Din l-Art Ħelwa Architectural Heritage Award for best re-adaptation and re-use of a historic building. Palazzo Vittoriosa was competing against another five entries in the same category.

“I’m grateful to my colleagues and to Din l-Art Ħelwa because, through this competition, I managed to discover another piece of me.”

Gilbert, of course, is no newcomer to the industry. Practicising since 2002, he started out with one of Malta’s major contractors, where, in his own words, he “spent eight years tackling some of the biggest projects on the island, ranging from Tigné Point to various road and marine works”.

One of the biggest problems was the concrete pointing work carried out approximately 30 years ago

In 2009, he set up his own practice and Palazzo Vittoriosa became his firstmajor project. Others followed fast, including a quirky experience in the projectmanagement of hardlandscaping in the Toy Story playland in Eurodisney two years back.

You could say that buildings are in his blood: born in 1975, Gilbert grew up during the construction boom that literally added 80 per cent of the existing construction on the island. His grandfather was a builder and his father was his main inspiration, being a gifted mechanic by trade, but also one of those lucky people who could master most things he put his mind to.

“Moreover, I come from a rural area in Gozo. How can I forget building tree houses with my brothers...? But my first real love of architecture came through the churches, observing vaults, cupole and all the details.”

Church architecture provided the original spark, mixed with the sporadic construction of apartments that the young Gilbert would often compare to shoeboxes in a shoe shop, one stacked on top of the other.

“I was 11 when I promised myself I would do something about it, and eventually enrolled into the architecture and civilengineering course. Since then, I have kept my mind excited with all kinds of things...”

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