Dining Pavilion Malta, Maltese Building, Project, Photo, Design, Image

Dining Pavilion Malta : Architecture

Residential Building – design by Architecture Project

24 Jun 2009

Dining Pavilion Malta

Design: Architecture Project

View of the screen from the inside, casting shadows on the tiled floor

picture © David Pisani / METROPOLIS

This pavilion-like structure houses an extension to the existing kitchen in an eighteenth century house. It is made of aluminium and glass and is aligned with a colonnade of slender steel columns that support a fabric awning providing shade for outdoor dining. Because of its contrasting materials and construction technology, the extension, that is designed like an over-scale porch, does not conflict with, but, rather, complements the stone walls of the existing house and, together with the canvas canopy, it creates a light and airy screen to the back of the house.

Outdoor night view of the dining pavilion

picture © David Pisani / METROPOLIS

In fact, the project for the extension was generated by the desire of the owners of the house to convert the small existing kitchen, tucked into the small space at the back of the house beneath the grand staircase, into one which participates fully in the life of the garden. The changing light conditions throughout the day, the cycle of seasons and the garden activities were up to today excluded from the inward looking kitchen with its thick walls, small windows and dark tiling. The aim was to change the limited kitchen and storage space into one that grew out into the garden, accommodating a new dining area and belonging to the outside as much as it did to the house.

Side view of the Pavilion opening onto the outdoor terrace

picture © David Pisani / METROPOLIS

In order to accentuate the ephemeral qualities of this addition, the shading device that was built to protect the south east façade of the extension was designed as a screen that is operable to allow maximum vision of the garden during periods of inclement weather, and maximum shade during the hot season. The screen was instrumental in creating the much desired link between the garden and the house. To be able to achieve this, it was decided to create a vegetal surface, made from hemp and flax, which has a strong tradition in the long history of rope making for sea vessels.

Outdoor night view of the dining pavilion

picture © David Pisani / METROPOLIS

This material withstands harsh external environmental conditions; it is environmentally friendly, visually rich and engages the senses of touch and smell. The forms that have been created by French artist Aude Franjou also play on the natural qualities of the material. The technique adopted for the sculpture is a variation of a tapestry weaving tradition and involves twisting a flax strand around a heart of hemp, the desired curvature of the branch being derived from the tension applied by hand during the process. It is then woven onto a folding steel frame. Like trees growing out of the ground and spreading their tentacle-like branches over the glass surfaces of the kitchen walls, this contemporary sculpture creates a dialogue between the garden and the kitchen, belonging as it does to both the mineral and the vegetal world.

View of the screen across the glass top of the dining table

photo : Alberto Favaro, ARCHITECTURE PROJECT

Dining Pavilion Malta – Building Information

Architect: Architecture Project (AP)
Team: Konrad Buhagiar, David Drago, David Felice, Alberto Miceli-Farrugia, Majka Mikulska, Rory Apap Brown, Joseph Calleja, David Cassar
Consultant: Aude Franjou – hemp and flax sculpture
Client: private
Location: Malta
Project Dates: 2005-07

Dining Pavilion Malta images / information from Architecture Project

Architecture Project

Location: Malta, Southern Europe