A few years ago, an Englishman called Ray came to Malta and fell in love with Valletta. He scouted the entire island looking for a holiday home, but when he discovered Valletta his search was over. He found out about our studio after visiting a restaurant we had designed in town, and a few days later he came to my office and asked me to go see a property he was about to put a deposit on.

© Chris Briffa

Architects: Chris Briffa Architects

Location: Valletta, Malta

Team: Sandro Valentino, Darren Cortis, Ivan Buttigieg, Annaliese Mizzi, John Muscat

Area: 600.0 m2

Project Year: 2014

Photographs: Chris Briffa

© Chris Briffa

Text description provided by the architects. A few years ago, an Englishman called Ray came to Malta and fell in love with Valletta. He scouted the entire island looking for a holiday home, but when he discovered Valletta his search was over. He found out about our studio after visiting a restaurant we had designed in town, and a few days later he came to my office and asked me to go see a property he was about to put a deposit on.
© Chris Briffa

It was a unique house by Valletta standards. Not only were the rooms extremely spacious, but it also enjoyed a garden in the basement with all the main rooms overlooking it. In this sense, the house was fully introverted ? an attribute that well suited Ray?s desire for privacy. But apart from limestone, there was l...