Architect Turns Small Abandoned Apartment into Bright, Character-Filled Home, Malta 60sqm/645sqft
For years, I searched for a period home within an urban conservation area, eventually finding a small, 60-square-meter apartment in the fortified city of Cospicua, Malta. It had stood vacant for over twenty years, yet when I first stepped inside, I wasn’t struck by the decay, but by the sheer amount of light and the potential for small interventions to create a profound transformation. As an architect, my creative process is a constant dialogue with cultural heritage, and this project allowed me to honor the 1950s postwar history of the building while carving out a space that feels deeply personal.
My primary goal was to breathe air into the floorplan. I began by widening the three narrow doorways that once separated the kitchen, living, and dining rooms, turning them into one large, fluid space. In the kitchen, I designed bespoke oak cabinets topped with Carrara marble, lowering the windowsill right down to the countertop so the stone seems to bleed into the view of the city. To preserve the soul of the structure, I whitewashed the stone walls, allowing their three-dimensional, natural surface to speak through the paint. I even moved the tile borders—a meticulous “headache” of a task—so that my new full-height cupboards wouldn’t feel like they were encroaching on the original floor pattern.
There is a quiet, emotional resonance in the objects I chose to keep. I repurposed furniture left behind by previous residents and even saved a chrome-legged table from a neighbor’s skip. When I removed walls to open the space, I used reclaimed white cement tiles to fill the gaps; I love that they leave a visible trace of where the old boundaries used to be. It is a way of keeping the home’s history present, even as I modernize it.
The bedroom remains my sanctuary, where the proportions of the space make me feel as though I am resting in a luxurious old palace. I reinstated the original balcony railing and reconstructed the floor slab, creating a perfect nook for morning coffee as the light begins to filter through the city. From the large windows that now mimic the feel of a traditional Maltese balcony, I can look out over the urban rooftops of Bormla, feeling a profound connection to the sea and the historical richness of the Grand Harbor.
Designing this home was like restoring an old painting; I didn’t want to paint over the original character, but rather carefully clean the surface and add just enough new pigment to make the hidden colors shine again.