The Ċittadella visitors' centre has been named the best visitor attraction project at an international awards ceremony held in London.

The attraction, on Malta’s sister island, beat competition from finalists in Oslo, the UK and Dubai to the audiovisual award, which comes exactly one year since the centre, an EU co-funded project, opened to the public.

More than 240,000 people have visited the centre over the past year, which is open to visit free-of-charge.  

Now in their fourth year, the InstallAwards recognise excellence in the audiovisual industry across the globe, highlighting the best projects launched in the previous 12 months. 

Judges were impressed with the way the centre, located within the walled Gozitan fortress city, used the high ceilings and vast spaces of a reservoir to striking effect.

"The projection solution exceeded the brief: making use of the architecture of the space produced a better visual result and also served to increase the capacity of the theatre space,” installation editor Paddy Baker explained. 

Visitors to the centre are taken on a journey through nine multi-language zones, culminating in a 360° show within a theatrical space created by the reservoir. The show weaves together various themes the exhibition area touches upon, immersing visitors in Gozo's landscape and history. 

Photo: SarnerPhoto: Sarner

The centre was designed and developed by Sarner International for the Ministry of Gozo. 

Sarner is a UK-based design and audiovisual studio which specialises in creating AV exhibits for museums, theme parks and brands. 

"It’s like walking into a living, breathing book where each page is filled with the most wonderful and captivating illustrations that just draw you further and further into the story. The feedback has been overwhelming - most of the shows end with an impromptu applause and we have even seen visitors moved to tears," said Ċittadella Rehabilitation Project leader John Cremona. 

Photo: SarnerPhoto: Sarner

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.