Garden in the City

The sloping nature of this site inspired us to consider an interesting play of levels that could be exploited whilst retaining a church building, at the time still in construction, as an important visual connection. This space was proposed as Malta’s first public community garden, designed around sustainable principles, managed by the residential community in agreement with the Mellieħa Local Council. Two green mounds would provide an organic transition along the site profile whilst two viewing areas would exploit the site’s topographical position to offer interesting views of the protected inland cliffs and the urban townscape. This project proposed various sustainable design concepts which included the re-modelling of the existing landform into new contours to the collection of water for irrigation purposes and for re-use as second-class water. The paving scheme, interspersed with greenery, would allow rainwater to percolate through into an aquifer located beneath the site.

This winning project was also awarded a Special Commendation for the best Urban Planning Concept at the MASP Awards 2019 organised by the Planning Authority.