The Archetype Paper Issue 7

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Issue 7 November 2015 Editor Victor Calleja Publisher Dark Dragon Media Ltd. Photography Sean Mallia Editorial Assistant Stanley Borg Facebook thearchetypepaper Subscriptions archetypepaper.com Printing Best Print Ltd Distribution Maltapost plc.

The Archetype Paper is a quarterly magazine about architecture, design, interiors, furniture & visual art.

Editor’s letter 5 The green dream 6 Meaningful spaces 10 A green agenda 14 Getting the hang of it 16 A structure for sustainability 21 Accommodating guests and the environment 24 A greener shade of we 26 Wastewater treatment 29 The pursuit of beauty 31 Nature in the kitchen 33 The writing is on the wall 35 Financing energy efficiency investments 36 Protect your home 37 A well deserved rest 38

Cover: Floriana Rendering: Alberto Favaro

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of Dark Dragon Media Ltd. Opinions expressed in The Archetype Paper are not necessarily those of the editor. All care has been taken to ensure truth and accuracy, but the editor, the editorial board and the publishers cannot be held responsible for errors or omissions in the articles, pictographs or illustrations.

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Photo: Sean Mallia

““These dreamers make our reality more liveable, colourful, even memorable””

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Editor’s letter Living the dream

The dreamers in our midst come up with seemingly airy ideas, pursue their ideals and, after suffering much derision, scorn and disappointment, end up seeing their dreams solidify in the gravity of reality. These dreamers make our reality more liveable, colourful, even memorable.

Finding these dreamers – the ones with projects which seem undoable but which shine against the backdrop of life’s daily clutter – is no mean task. Archetype sought out some of these dreamers and from these pages we salute them and hope they remain idealists first, realists second.

Four young architects from a fledgling architectural firm based in Floriana have come up with one of these dreams that provoke derision and laughter from the ones tied to a two-dimensional view of reality. But their idea is, if nothing else, a thought-provoker and that is what all of us at Archetype love. Spurring us all into thinking, into dreaming of living a better life, is all we desire. It is one of the main raisons d’être of this paper.

The idea of these architects is to banish cars from the main road of the locality, turn it into a green walkway and give back its glory to the streetscape and not to the fumes, congestion and mayhem which are its present reality.

Imagine it: walking into Floriana and then on to Valletta on foot, unpolluted by car, bus or truck and their infernal racket. One city, the capital of our land, is fast awakening and once again becoming a city that thrives. And with this germination of a seemingly mad idea, even Floriana could shake itself out of its slumber.

All sounds like something out of fairyland but these architects have come up with a concrete, rational proposal. Cars and traffic will go underground, giving so much life to a beautiful avenue. Do many, beyond the the archetype paper

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aficionados and architectural buffs, truly realise and appreciate how grandly beautiful St Anne Street is?

May such dreams and dreamers win over the authorities concerned, may clean air and cleaner environments be our goal. Even if not taken on board, these ideas are disruptive and will hopefully encourage the rest of us to find new ways, new avenues, new untapped territories to try saving some space, some green, some quiet in our island.

If we go back a few years we can all, bar a very few, plead guilty to laughing at all who screamed out about climate change and the need to save the environment. Today we are all, or almost all, tree-huggers to some extent.

Yet we still have to do more for planet earth.

And besides doing our own bit, we need to instil in others the need to tend to the wearied planet.

This issue of Archetype is all about greener living and keeping our dream of life as we know it intact. Everyone now expects more comforts than was imagined 20 years ago but comfort need not come at the expense of all that is eco-friendly.

It’s been repeatedly said that this world is not ours, nor is it our children’s. It is of all humanity, now and hopefully forever, so more needs to be done to give it back some lung power, some staying power.

The little we do will not turn back the clock to better times. Nor is development intrinsically bad and we at Archetype believe in it and in making our lives even more comfortable. But we also need to look at what is sustainable and what the development itself can wreak on this beautiful land of ours.

Enjoy this issue and long may dreamers dream and ideas flourish.

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Projects

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GREEN

DREAM An ambitious project can make Floriana a true garden city, Victor Calleja says.

“This was the original plan for Floriana, which was meant to be a garden city” One thing is free and will always remain so: the power to dream, the beauty of aiming a notch or two higher than others. And the beautiful thing about dreams is that they inspire others to imagine, and strive for, a better world.

Our world needs dreamers and our country – this over-built, car-fumed land of ours – needs the fresh water of new ideas to inspire us to be greener, not in thought or wishful thinking but in real terms and doable ways.

Four young architects have recently come up with a project that invites us all to think in a different way, to embrace a change that could, if adopted, be a trend setter and make us breathe more freely. These architects’ project sounds mad enough: make St Anne Street in Floriana, that majestic main road flanked by arches and a supposedly grand introduction to Valletta, completely pedestrianised.

Now this is not some green fairy tale – they have the plans and the way forward.

Admittedly, the project would not be cheap, but it could be a fantastic transformation for Floriana and other parts of Malta. The idea is to excavate a tunnel under St Anne Street and, in one fell swoop, turn a horribly

polluted, hardly appreciated avenue into the grand statement it was originally planned to be.

St Anne Street as envisaged by Ian Camilleri, Bernard Vella, Anna Gallo and Adam Brincat will be covered in gardens, walkways and a beautiful park for Floriana and Valletta residents and anyone who wants to enjoy the fresh air. And that’s exactly what St Anne Street – one of the most polluted in Malta – needs: fresh air and a free, liveable space.

Going back in time, this was the original plan for Floriana, which was meant to be a garden city. When the Knights were building Valletta, one of the planning regulations was that no residence could have its own garden. So the garden space for the noble Valletta residents was moved as a concept to the whole city of Floriana.

Close enough to enjoy, close enough to be a joy. And in fact Floriana does have a number of beautiful gardens all around it. But right in the middle is the grand road that crosses it and has now become its own polluter.

This idea of moving all the St Anne traffic underground would reconnect the whole of Floriana and bring the idea of a garden city back to life.

It will give Floriana, as well as our capital city, more lungpower and beauty. St Anne Street needs reviving from its drab and tired look.

It could be turned into the most beautiful avenue, one that locals and visitors would love. Imagine children running free in smogless leisure.

Anna Gallo

“An intelligent city means improving urban life through more sustainable, integrated solutions and engaging more actively with the locals living in the area and those who walk though this urban space.

The green strip on St Anne Street would be an

opportunity to combine transport and traffic management with energy-efficient solutions. In this way the project will be economically feasible and able to generate enough revenue to cater for its maintenance and upkeep.”

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Photo: Sean Mallia

Ian Camilleri

“I personally believe that Floriana will remain distinct from Valletta. There is a cut-off point between Valletta and Floriana that is evident. The whole idea of this project was to regenerate Floriana from the sad state it is in today. This project will generate more enthusiasm for Floriana, which will lead to investment. “It is all about changing mentalities. The Birgu and Valletta regeneration worked and now people want to live there.

This is a natural progression and I believe this project for St Anne Street will do the same for Floriana. Few people realise or care what Floriana looks like or that it has so many gardens. When we show this project to people they are impressed not just by the idea but by the beauty of the street and the surrounding gardens.�

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Projects Interview

Bernard Vella

“Floriana has developed as an individual entity with distinct characteristics. But it was planned as an extension of Valletta, intended to be the garden city of the capital. One can only wonder how this area would have been developed had Valletta not been built in the first place. I’m sure we would be looking at a very different scenario. Valletta is the city developed by the knights with a very clear brief, and Floriana followed suit.

Will a project like ours enhance the community and life within Floriana? The dynamics will change for sure but will it necessarily be just for the better or will there be some repercussions? That is always the dilemma with regeneration. I dare say that overall it will be for the better but certainly it will be different.

Any change gives birth to different scenarios but Valletta and Floriana working together

Of such dreams are these architects made.

Yet their feet are firmly on the ground. In reality, the idea of turning St Anne Street into a walkway started from a more down-to-earth project: to embellish and turn into something useful the smaller piazza where the statue of Grand Master Vilhena is now situated.

Mapfre Middle Sea Insurance commissioned DHI Periti to come up with a concept for Pjazza Papa Giovanni XXIII which is at present a dead space. This was taken a step further to include the whole of St Anne Street.

I met and enjoyed an afternoon with the four enthusiastic architects . They want to see the project come to life. They want change. But they are not just dreamers: they have drawn up the costs of this project and checked that it is possible from an engineering perspective. That said, they admit that it is not an easy thing to achieve. But dream on

makes the whole scenario more effective. They can use each other’s synergies to their advantage but both must retain their own individual character.”

Victor Calleja and the architects from DHI Periti

Photo: Sean Mallia

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The Green Dream

they must. And if these people dream, we the onlookers might push the people who matter, who decide what projects to undertake, to go ahead dream and implement.

The architects have looked into all the issues connected to this project which might sound expensive to implement, but which will generate business for the locality, a healthier lifestyle and ultimately cleaner air could also attract residents back to Floriana. At the moment, the Floriana population is an ageing one, with most young people moving out of the locality. This project could reinstate it as a sought-after town.

The idea would be to find ways of generating alternative energy. Ventilation, heating, noise abatement, even cleaning can be done more efficiently. Being green and sustainable is the most important way forward in all projects

whether big or small and this is what these architects are aiming for.

The greening of a country does not happen through small or half-measures. Dreams of greening a city will not give you an immediate return. But even the immediate benefits of ridding Floriana of the second most polluted street on the island would be a great achievement.

As with all groups, some members are voluble, some very quiet. But one of the most interesting comments all afternoon came from the usually reticent one: Adam Brincat quoted a book by Oliver Friggieri, a Maltese author who wrote about his childhood in Floriana way back when cars were scarce, congestion was undreamt of and traffic jams a thing out of a horrid future. Yet this is exactly what can be done with this project: build a green strip

over it. And the idea would be for the local council to then add on more eco-friendly initiatives like rental bikes.

It is not just bravado from four architects that will make such a project possible.

Government and all stakeholders will have to be convinced, pitch in and work hard. But even if it is not endorsed and undertaken, what the four architects would like to see is that these ideas are discussed and alternatives found. The problem is there and a solution – even if not the green strip – needs to be found.

The air we breathe, like the dreams we dream, is free. Hopefully we will find ways of keeping it also free of pollutants. It takes dreamers to break moulds, let’s follow their lead and move on to better, greener days ahead.

Adam Brincat

“The goal I set in mind while working on this project was to elevate Floriana to a new urban area. Statistics show that the Floriana population has been on the decline for a long stretch. Why? Perhaps it’s because Floriana has simply turned into a road, without life, except for the pumping of engines and revving of cars that pass by. Amid this cacophony, little communities and niches scattered around Floriana do exist, showing that it has the potential for a thriving community life. I believe that such a project would tap into that potential.

“I do not see the project in isolation or as an extension of Valletta but rather a compliment to the great city. Our idea is to achieve this goal by softening the way to Valletta and highlighting that the area is not simply grand in its architecture but also rich in its Rendering: Alberto Favaro

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landscaping and historical gardens. Our hope is also that the project would allow for better upkeep of Floriana’s gardens.”

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Urban Space

Studjurban team - from left: Francesca Miceli, Constanta Dohotaru, Antoine Zammit and Erika Massa

Photo: Sean Mallia

Creating meaningful spaces Perit Antoine Zammit explains the concept of responsible design.

Old meeting the new sustainable rehabilitation in Mellieħa (works in progress).

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You lecture on spatial planning, urban design and urban governance. What do these have in common?

The three subjects are interrelated.

Traditionally, and for centuries, societies have dealt with land-use planning – the establishment of a defined pattern of land uses within urban areas and the allocation of development to urban spaces. Spatial planning, while still dealing with space allocation, subdivision and management, goes beyond this traditional approach and is concerned with the strategic, holistic and comprehensive undertaking of creating meaningful places. For this reason, it requires balancing out key considerations, including economic, social, environmental, political and cultural so as to deliver places, commencing at the macro scale (supra-national, national and regional levels) right down to the scale of individual localities. By doing so, it aims to be more sustainable – understood in the broadest sense – and to contribute to the creation of places that may enrich our lives daily.

Urban design actuates spatial planning in practice – it’s the interface between planning and architecture and is concerned with the design of the built and unbuilt fabric (the buildings and spaces between them, such as streets and squares), the interfaces between different spaces (public to private), the physical qualities of space (visually, functionally) but also the non-physical the archetype paper

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implications of using space (social and perceptual). It overlaps with other disciplines – primarily architecture, planning, engineering and landscaping architecture – but it has also established itself today as a discipline in its own right. Urban design may furthermore be seen as a framework to achieve good space design on the ground.

Any delivery mechanism requires decisionmaking. Any product requires a process.

Urban governance goes beyond the traditional ‘government’ approach and is more inclusive, identifying different roles for key stakeholders – civil society, business groups, and other interests – in order to be able to implement spatial planning and urban design frameworks. Naturally, therefore, it overlaps with environmental, socio-cultural, and socioeconomic considerations and priorities, which suggests that different roles for stakeholders may be identified. Good governance is the key to resolving a number of urban issues and requires balancing out often-conflicting interests transparently and inclusively.

ownership has always been a strong cultural statement and renting is a relatively new phenomenon) and economic (a number of individuals are involved, directly or indirectly, in the construction industry) reasons. By imposing specific developments in a very short-sighted manner we caused gentrification and shifted property prices causing the less fortunate among us to be forced out of an area as they are unable to afford payments.

Yet urban environments are in a constant state of flux and reinvent themselves through time – they are not fixed entities but are susceptible to sudden or gradual change.

Therefore, we’re never late to fix problems. It all depends on whether we’re ready to take well-informed, long-term decisions, which may not always be simple. We need good governance structures to start off with, a strong strategy that informs future change (we now have the Strategic Plan for Environment and Development that should set the tone for any future development) and that does

“Urban environments are in a constant state of flux” Are we too late to address the various issues that plague our built environment?

Various decisions taken in the past decades, post-Independence, have compromised our built environment, some of which are indeed irreversible. In my view they have primarily resulted out of short sightedness and being reactive to circumstances. For instance, post-World War II was largely about reconstruction while post-Independence was largely about social housing, setting out major infrastructure and building a tourism-driven economy, and so on. By responding to the priorities that were the order of the day, we failed to consider the long-term implications of these decisions.

For instance, large plots of public land were given to individuals practically for free via the home ownership schemes and the rest of the population got nothing in return. Large social housing enclaves were built that were detached from the surrounding community, with all the implications that this has had on urban areas. More recently, we created new, gated, upmarket enclaves which are also purposely detached from their surroundings.

We completely changed the face of Sliema and the tourism-centred localities of Qawra and Bugibba because hotels (that set a height precedent on our waterfronts) were needed and therefore took top priority.

When the property market was strong and demand was greater than supply, substandard units were built and they were still purchased. Urban space was the leftover space that was simply paved and embellished, often poorly, and we called it ‘urban design’. Development has been the order of the day – due to cultural (home the archetype paper

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not think in five-year political terms but asks the question ‘Where do we see this locality/ district/neighbourhood going in the next 10-15 years and how does the incremental change within the urban environment need to take place in order for it to actively and positively contribute to this medium-to-long-term vision?’ This, I feel, is the key to resolve the issues we have at hand.

Gentrification may embellish an area but it kills the urban fabric and alienates previous dwellers. How can this be addressed?

Many would argue that gentrification is a necessary evil of regeneration and a natural consequence of the injection of new uses within committed urban fabrics. Others would actually push for gentrification, as they see it as ‘sanitising’ the urban environment, by up-scaling a neighbourhood with the introduction of more affluent social groups, or businesses, of which they want to form part as prospective new residents. The most negative repercussion of gentrification is when individuals are literally priced out of the neighbourhood.

In order to pre-empt this phenomenon, the best solution would be for the planning authorities, or central government itself, to demand a percentage of affordable housing as part of a redevelopment or regeneration project. This guarantees a mix of residential typologies. It requires a very active role for central government, leading by example and working in tandem with civil society and the market. This is commonplace in many European countries, where the concept of marginalised ‘social’ housing does not

exist any more and is being replaced by ‘affordable’ housing as an integral part of any development. The result is a diverse and socially rich community.

Can old buildings serve modern needs and lifestyles?

I’m a firm believer that they may. Indeed many of our office projects have increasingly focused on the rehabilitation of older properties as a number of our clients, mostly younger couples, have opted to purchase an older property and undergo alterations rather than buying a more modern apartment. If the price works out similarly, clients prefer to have an entire property to themselves, with well-sized internal spaces and possibly added amenities as opposed to having to share such spaces.

At studjurban we’re trying to go a step further than rehabilitation by carrying out sustainable rehabilitation. This means that we exploit the alterations or additions so as to provide added value to the property in environmental terms. A newly located staircase is designed in such a way as to double up as a vertical stack to channel hot air upwards and out of the building in the hot summer months; new internal courtyards are positioned and oriented so as to facilitate cross-ventilation throughout the building; or differential temperature changes within courtyards are exploited in order to draw cooler air from one yard to another and encourage air movement.

Simple principles, such as the principle of convection, could be used really wisely within these alterations – and this in addition to the traditional benefits of older buildings, such as exploiting the thermal mass of the building fabric itself in order to better conserve energy. In this way, older buildings become relevant to modern day living particularly in environmental terms. This, in my view, is a crucial consideration in achieving the energy targets established by the EU’s Energy Directive.

Retrofitting is one solution – but is it more important to build sustainable living spaces from design stage?

I don’t think that this is a question of one or the other – we have available building stock that may be reutilised and that may lend itself to retrofitting, but we also have the possibility of redeveloping areas and designing new developments. Both may offer legitimate responses if we design them responsibly.

‘Responsible’ design is a new term that we have coined within the Architects’ Council of Europe to replace the term ‘sustainable’ design. The latter term has become more of a buzzword that means anything and everything. However, responsible design is different and implies that architects should always remember that whatever the scale of project they are involved in, they have a responsibility towards clients and towards

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Creating meaningful spaces current and future generations.

Design is truly responsible if environmental considerations are taken at the onset of the design concept, and the emphasis should be on passive design measures and energy conservation before energy generation. We seem to think that because we’re generating energy via photovoltaic panels, then we can keep going with our unsustainable life patterns or construction methods. It would be much better if we first reduced our energy requirements (focusing more on insulating our roofs and walls, for instance) that would in turn leave surplus generated energy, utilisable elsewhere or (hopefully in the near future) stored for future use. This should in turn be reflected within financing strategies such as government subsidies.

Is Valletta waking up or losing its character?

The prospect of Valletta 2018 is providing an incentive for investors. Vacant properties

for them to partake in the decision-making process from day one. This should happen within a framework that is built on a strong long-term vision.

A number of individual, inward-looking projects, working in isolation, do not make a proper city. What really makes a city is the urban space where people meet, congregate, experience and share. In our zealous rush to ensure the Valletta 2018 short-term targets and project deliverables, we must not lose sight of the more important, long-term implications of these very same projects and the city as a whole.

Shouldn’t we at least get down to basics and come up with a plan for Valletta, its environs and then further afield?

Absolutely. Valletta needs a proper spatial plan that further considers the various social implications of such a diverse fabric.

It should be multi-layered, considering the various interfaces between such layers that

“Architects should always remember that whatever the scale of project they are involved in, they have a responsibility towards clients and towards current and future generations” are being converted into boutique hotels, guesthouses and rooms for rent, together with related ancillary facilities. The fabric of neighbourhoods around planned catalysts (such as the Biċċerija, Strait Street and the upcoming MUŻA) is also changing. Some might call this regeneration. But we have to be careful when we use this term – the true test of regeneration is when it gives something back to the community. If the redevelopment of an area solely benefits a minority, then it cannot be called regeneration – it’s simply a speculative project.

Therefore, when thinking about these catalysts and potential redevelopment of areas in Valletta, we should immediately be aware of the perils associated with gentrification and try to pre-empt them. We should invest in the neighbourhood and the urban space before we invest in the building itself. We should actively involve the local community and other local stakeholders in a bottom-up, participatory manner in order

Bespoke design in Attard in collaboration with The Picture House (works in progress).

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have defined the city historically and that keep reinventing it, such that it may remain relevant to individuals today. The city is more than a historic artefact or open-air museum – its urban complexities characterise it on a day-to-day basis and we need a roadmap for the city for the next 15-20 years. Within long-term objectives, we must then design the various short- and medium-term targets, but then the latter happen within a defined vision, not in isolation. Otherwise projects risk being short-lived and important sociospatial implications will be relegated, only to resurface after some time due to problems that will inevitably arise.

Furthermore, Valletta does not function in isolation, but exists within a larger context that is the urban conurbation, characterised by the two harbours and having important strategic implications – for instance, in terms of movement networks and the potential for green infrastructure.

Only idealists would say that development should be stopped but can stricter rules be imposed, or at least rules enforced?

If I had to think about the best examples of urban design I would say that results were achieved when there was a balance of strong design policy and guidance, forward-thinking individuals and key stakeholders to steer a project, the involvement of different actors from the outset, and iterations during the design and planning process, constantly being refined through, for instance, input from the local communities or negotiations with

Zero-energy architecture in the making, San Pawl tat-Tarġa, Naxxar.

prospective developers in order to achieve greater public good (what we generally refer to as ‘planning gain’).

Through our involvement with MEPA, we’re currently finalising a new set of design policies and guidance which will replace a number of previous documents and put urban design on the policy map, in terms of context and street considerations. However policy alone will not be the solution. It requires individuals to follow policy and interpret guidance, developers who are not blinkered by short-term profits, architects and planning assessors who should address the particularities of site and context, not adopt a template architectural solution for any context. It also requires following up through well-established enforcement procedures.

The new document has been formulated on the premise that there are basic parameters that we need to get right and these are controlled via strict design policies. Other issues dealing with specific architectural elements, for instance, may have more than one solution and therefore they are established via more flexible design guidance. This ensures flexibility and individual creativity and interpretation within important and established street parameters, hopefully achieving a balance of both, as they are both important contributors to a street context.

Finally, a number of the issues discussed throughout have important socio-cultural implications, which we tend to underestimate or take for granted. For instance, establishing a rethought approach with regards to environmental considerations and green design requires a shift in mentality in the construction industry’s frame of mind. The market’s response will also be crucial.

Decision-makers, particularly at central government level, need to do things differently – primarily, in a more inclusive manner such that top-down steering and bottom-up participatory processes may work together in order to truly achieve welldesigned places for all.

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Design

A green agenda Stark walls and minimalism make a strong statement.

But when taken to extremes, they tire the eyes and flag our enthusiasm. On the other hand, colour adds warmth and passion to where we live. Vera Sant Fournier takes Archetype on a tour of a newly constructed building and explains the concept of environmentally friendly design.

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“Often interior designers have good ideas that can be easily incorporated at design stage”

To interior designer Vera Sant Fournier, the only way forward is green: doing everything in a more eco-friendly way is key to a more sustainable way of living. And we all need to learn more, educate more, and endorse anything that helps in greening the planet.

Sant Fournier has recently got together with a number of other like-minded suppliers and architects and launched Vera Sant Fournier Green Design.

“If we don’t find new ways and break old barriers, we will have problems,” Sant Fournier says. “And we need to convince clients that every little bit counts. The big picture is that on a national level, we need to move faster to reduce the carbon footprint.

But even we, as designers, architects and clients, need to up the tempo.”

Commercial and residential design needs to be more environmentally friendly. However, even daily little chores like water usage, choice of light sources and garbage disposal are essential. Sant Fournier especially emphasises the educational part.

Green usually costs more than less eco friendly variants. Yet Sant Fournier turns as red as the coat she is wearing when she says that if people are not ready to invest more in eco-friendly practices, then all could be lost.

“For instance, there are paints which are claybased,” she says. “These paints are non-toxic and are ideal for our country as they absorb more of our humidity. On the other hand, cheaper paint alternatives exude chemicals.

So it’s not just a matter of boosting your eco credentials but also being responsible for the well-being of family, friends or employees who use the buildings. And besides these paints look really good on the walls.”

How committed are her clients to taking on her green ideas?

Sant Fournier says that six out of 10 clients accept many of her suggestions to go green or at least greener. This is quite a good number seeing that being kinder to the environment usually requires a higher cost, both in terms of finance and time.

Yet sometimes, the fault does not lie with clients but with bad planning. Sant Fournier has been involved in cases where her intervention to rip walls or change the orientation of some rooms would have been avoided if she had been asked for advice before the actual intervention was carried out.

“For an interior designer, it is liberating to be given carte blanche once a building is ready and still in shell form. It’s exciting to see the raw beauty of stark transformed into a liveable world of colour, design and comfort.

“But the ideal situation is to be involved even before the building is planned and finished, at design stage with the client and architect.

Then my input would be fuller and would guarantee a better result. Moreover, being involved from planning stage can help reduce costs. It’s not a question of taking over from the architect – however, I do think that often interior designers have good ideas that can be easily incorporated at design stage.”

While going around the rubble and bricks, Sant Fournier is a true dynamo, pointing out her plans for different areas.

“When I enter a place like this, I know what it will look like. I conceptualise the end result in my head.”

Together with her team, Sant Fournier’s first step is to get to know her clients and their moods and daily patterns. What they do and like and their routines are very important.

She then has meetings with the clients where they discuss and find out more about how their minds tick. Then it’s a question of presentations and sharing ideas.

“I encourage my clients to dream with me and together, we can get there. It’s a bigger challenge to convince someone who does not want to go green. But if I manage to convince them to, at least, consider alternatives, then it’s a bigger achievement.”

Sant Fournier is a joy to be with and to hear her laugh. It’s an infectious laugh that really makes you wish to have any building you are in designed by her. It’s a joie de vivre that comes out in her work.

Speaking about current design trends, Sant Fournier says that there is currently a resurgence of flamboyance and baroque styles. The juxtapositioning of the stark look— even the concrete, unfinished touch—with a superb piece of antique furniture can be wonderful. What was recently vilified—the ornate, the detailed pieces-- has nowadays found favour again as long as it is done in style. This is how we evolve, Sant Fournier says.

“As long as it reflects good taste and respects the green agenda, then I’m all for it.”

Sant Fournier’s dream project is to design and build a self-sufficient, off-the-grid house using containers. This dream is still all in her mind, but the way she speaks about it, you can already see it taking shape.

To Sant Fournier, it is not an imposition of what she wants but rather, a coming together of what her clients want and how she and her team think these ideas should be expressed, preferably in an eco-friendly manner.

Sant Fournier’s aim is to improve on those six out of 10 clients who already accept to go green.

Photos: Sean Mallia Shell form building used in the photo shoot was kindly made available by JB architects. the archetype paper

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Design

Getting the hang of it

When you have a small plot to build on, you need a big idea to fit everything in.

Or rather, a hanging idea, as architect Chris Briffa shows.

Photos: David Pisani

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When a few years ago, architect Richard England’s Villa La Maltija in San Pawl tatTarĥa was demolished, permission was given to the developers to divide the estate into parcels of land with an average area of 250sqm.

Each land had different owners, each with their own ideas of what to do with their plot of land. Some wanted to stick to the traditional while others wanted to embrace the modern idiom. To add to the variety, each owner employed different architects.

The result was a landscape of 20 structures each built at the same time, but all very different from each other.

One of the plots was entrusted to Chris Briffa Architects with a very clear brief: to make the most of the 250sqm available. Zoning regulations only allowed 40 per cent of site coverage and in that space, the owners, a family of three, wanted to include an open plan living area with separate dining room, two large bedrooms, a home office, a study, a three-car garage, an area where the daughter could play her piano, and a pool with garden.

A challenge indeed. After various hours of meetings and discussions, Briffa proposed a sculptural white cube hanging over a narrow but generous garden and outdoors area.

Almost half of the house would be cantilevered over the pool area in order to free up more space in the garden, while still adhering to the planning regulations.

The clients agreed to the design and, following construction and bespoke interior finishing, moved in at the end of 2011.

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Design

The hanging home Architects: Chris Briffa Architects Design team: Chris Briffa, Darren Cortis, Ivan Buttigieg and Lawrence Briffa Structure consultant: Ivan Buttigieg Location: Naxxar Area: 311sqm Year: 2011

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Getting the hang of it

A steel staircase leads from the street and bridges over the underlying front garden.

The entry hall is compact with an unassuming composition of horizontal lines of glass, timber, steel and marble.

There are two openings: one is a narrow window to the outside and the other is a doorway into the living area.

Living area

The living area accommodates the sitting room, piano salon, a kitchen and breakfast area and concealed stairs that lead to the garage. The dining room and guest toilet are hidden behind oak doors and storage cabinets.

The dining room extends into the garden on a cantilevered concrete slab enclosed by three glass walls.

Home office

Clever by design

Entrance

Partly underground, the home office shares a wall with the 12-metre pool and looks up to a cluster of olive trees and the dining room. The home office has a separate access from the street and enjoys additional light and ventilation from the front yard.

Main bedroom

The main bedroom upstairs is entirely cantilevered over the whole length of the house.

The area consists of a sitting area, walk-in wardrobe, bathroom, bedroom and terrace.

A low level window controls privacy and natural light.

Light and ventilation

Opposing windows in every room provide cross-ventilation while the south-facing dining area doubles up as a terrace when the large doors are open. In summer, the space above the main staircase acts as a cooling tower, channelling the heat up from the main areas and scooping summer breezes from the uppermost windows.

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Architecture

Photo: Sean Mallia

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A structure for sustainability Education and knowledge are essential to reducing our carbon footprint, Christopher Mintoff, president of the Chamber of Architects and Civil Engineers, says.

We’ve discussed the green issue for long and we all seem to agree that we need to adopt more sustainable practices and reduce our carbon emission footprint.

Have we progressed?

Being green and sustainable are surely more commonplace as buzzwords than a proper belief. Yet I feel that as a nation, we are adapting to such a mentality.

environment too is part of our everyday environment – it’s where we live and work. It’s no secret that our local built and committed urban landscape is far from ideal. If all our professionals had to concentrate solely on developing and improving the existing urban fabric, we would have our work cut out. If we had to focus on improving our environment we would have a lot of work.

As president of the Chamber of Architects and Civil Engineers, I feel that, as a profession, architecture has improved its approach in designing sustainably both due to economic factors and as a matter of consciousness.

The market is also following suit.

The more we build, the more energy we waste and the less people enjoy views and open spaces. So should we stop?

When my father decided to pursue an architecture profession over 30 years ago, he was discouraged from doing so because some claimed that Malta was already fully built and he would find no work. Three decades later, Malta is still being built up, and this is purely due to market forces.

As Chamber of Architects and Civil Engineers, you have been criticised for operating too closely to the developers.

How do you respond to such criticism?

I complete disagree with this criticism. As a chamber we have a commitment towards both our members as well as the community.

We do share some agenda or ideas with developers but we certainly can’t be accused of working in tandem with them. During several instances we found ourselves at odds with proposals they put forward, even though it might have generated more work for us. Yet we are aware that one bad policy could destroy a lot of work. Developers are learning that the old cowboy mentality isn’t sustainable and they are willing to adopt today’s standards to improve their product.

I’m confident that we have been a positive force and managed to teach and persuade developers to adapt and improve their ways, in the same way that we have managed to educate our clients.

For architects, more development means more work. Does this present the danger of disregarding eco-friendly measures?

Development and protecting the environment don’t necessarily have to be on opposite sides of the same coin.

Our environment isn’t made up of just open spaces, fields and valleys. The urban the archetype paper

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It’s true that building has a substantial carbon footprint, but reducing construction is surely not the answer. Other ways, other solutions have to be found.

Does the Chamber of Architects and Civil Engineers push a green agenda?

Being environmentally conscious isn’t just a feather in your cap – the client expects it and newer regulations enforce it.

We must meet and exceed these expectations. Generally speaking, architects are very proud of their work and show great care when considering multiple priorities including green issues, urban issues like streetscapes and respect for heritage. In fact, in the majority of cases, architects find themselves in the role of a teacher to educate their clients on what is best and why it’s so.

The Chamber of Architects and Civil Engineers also finds itself as a force for good when proposing policy in this field. With the vast collective knowledge of our members, we can import ideas from other markets and see how we can incorporate them into the local context.

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A structure for sustainability Is going green more expensive?

Going green is an expensive affair and clients could feel that specialised materials and technologies are an extra expense, especially when retrofitting. Yet I feel that many clients are starting to understand that spending some money now could help them save more in the future. It’s encouraging to see young individuals accept this idea. Enforcement and increasingly demanding standards are key here too.

Still, a well-trained professional can help create inexpensive solutions. With some intelligent foresight, an architect can use passive systems to make a builder greener.

One example of a passive system is to have less glazing facing the south to reduce passive heating during summer.

Shouldn’t environmental issues be given more importance on the national agenda?

Sustainability informs practically every aspect of national policy. Directly or not, every policy has an environmental side effect. If we start looking at the environmental impact of our tourism industry, we’d be shocked. The carbon emissions by one airplane flight are huge. Instinctively if we were shown these figures we’d panic and decide that we’d rather not look at them. But why shouldn’t we? I doubt anyone would feel committed to sabotaging the tourism industry to lower our country’s carbon footprint, but at least we’d be aware of it. It could incentivise us into being proactive in our energy commitment in other areas.

New builds generate more profit than converting vacant buildings. Yet the latter solution is more sustainable. What is the chamber’s position?

Converting old properties isn’t just more sustainable environmentally, but also helps protect our heritage. Seeing old houses in a derelict state and with deteriorating architectural elements is a sad sight. These abandoned properties also decrease the aesthetic value of the street they form part of.

The only way to get young families to invest in older houses is to incentivise them financially. There is demand for such properties by the younger generation, but the prospect of having to convert them could be disheartening. That economic push might just help.

What changes would you like to see introduced in the near future to make sustainability more possible?

There needs to be a combination of micro and macro efforts to improve the local situation.

On a micro level, we are working on a project which should be launched soon. It will be called the Architectural Element Exchange programme and this will try to save and recycle old architectural features from being thrown away. Not only does it save some heritage and space in a landfill, but it would reduce the embodied energy (albeit slightly) of buildings.

On a macro level, I would like to see a medium- to long-term strategy of upcoming standards for the rating of new properties.

Much like electrical wares, buildings have an energy rating and the purchaser should know what he is purchasing as one sees in the building’s energy performance certificate.

It’s high time that a minimum rating for new buildings is introduced. I’m confident that the current market would embrace such a measure and quickly adapt to it.

Another interesting project would be to provide architects and engineers with free tools (software or design guidelines) designed specifically for the local context which would help them design greener with little ease.

Besides enforcement, the final weapon against our carbon footprint is education and knowledge. Simple design tricks or ideas can be beneficial to a particular project. If such best practices are shared within the industry, the cumulative benefit of a simple idea would make a great impact.

This is something we try to focus on. Gone are the days when architects would work by themselves. Everyone in this profession must contribute and learn from colleagues and peers and if needs be partner up with them on specific projects. This is true in structures, conservation, valuations, project management and sustainable design.

"I’m sure that in our lifetime, we’ll have a green budget which looks at the carbon deficit of our nation"

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Energy

Accommodating

guests and the Investing in energy and water conservation solutions gives hotels and guests a good night’s sleep, says Ing Carmel Cuschieri from Camilleri and Cuschieri Consulting Engineers.

Nowadays, people are ever more conscious about their expenditure. Most try and make savings on current expenses in order to be able to afford to do other things such as dining out, or else on extraordinary investments like buying a new car and going for a holiday.

On the other hand, people are cutting back on small luxuries. Taking a bath, for instance, was a luxury most of us could afford up to a few years ago. However, we rarely indulge in one nowadays, both to cut down on our water and electricity bills but also because we’re in too much of a hurry to spend half an hour in the bath.

Therefore, when people go on holiday, they want to indulge in things they usually forbid themselves from doing while at home.

These include having a bath and taking a long shower. So while the average water consumption is approximately 120 litres per person per day at home, this goes up to around 500 litres per guest night in five star hotels.

The same applies to the use of electrical energy. People are now so conscious about energy costs that they are very careful to switch off lights or the air conditioning in a room which they have just left.

But when people are on holiday and staying in a hotel, they want to keep the television, lights and air conditioning on even when they are not in their room and they push the temperature of the air conditioning to near

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freezing in summer and close to boiling point in winter. More so, most hotel guests expect that they are allowed to do this – the reasoning is that since they are paying for it, then they must use it to the maximum.

This is the situation we are faced with when we are assigned to design the services of a new hotel or one undergoing refurbishment.

Depending on the class of the hotel, we have to guarantee the level of comfort of the guests while keeping costs down, especially on utilities.

the secondary effect the hoteliers look for – top priority is to reduce costs and increase profitability. A client of ours once told me that the main reason for advising guests to use less towels is to lower the costs while easing the environmental burden.

Today, energy management is a very important part of the design of what we term an intelligent building. Technology helps us design systems which are smart and efficient.

Our capability is to provide these solutions as simply and as cost effectively as possible.

The design of services in a hotel room or amenity does not just involve providing the services and, for that matter, providing them reliably and efficiently, but also to a standard of quality that is better than the competition’s.

With Trip Advisor and the like, no hotelier would risk getting bad reviews and the higher the star rating, the greater the risk.

We devise smart solutions to give guests the expected service while maintaining the highest energy efficiency and water conservation. Technology helps us here and the choice of the right technology, and how this is applied, is crucial. No single supplier has the whole solution and we have to choose the building blocks of technology and make all components work together efficiently, reliably and at the least cost possible.

We have been applying energy conservation measures in hotels for the last 30 years.

When we designed the Park Hotel in Sliema in 1987, we had come up with the idea for the key tag switch in the guestrooms so that guests could not leave the room appliances on (except the mini bar) when leaving their room. We had also introduced a balcony door switch that switched off the air conditioning unit if the balcony door was opened. The comments then from other engineers in the field – our competitors – were that these systems were not necessary, they did not save energy and were too complicated.

Within five years, everyone was using these systems, and they proved to be very successful and generated high returns with very short paybacks, even when energy and water costs were extremely low.

The important side effect is always the less energy and water used, the more caring we are towards the environment. The truth, however, is that the environment is always

In 2000 we introduced the use of the T5 lighting technology with DALI controls at the HSBC Bank head office in Qormi. At the time, these were at the forefront of technology and the archetype paper

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environment had never been used in Malta. We also used for the first time in Malta VRF air conditioning technology on a large scale. Not even HSBC Bank UK had used this technology and we had to persuade HSBC Bank top brass that we had done all the research possible and that the projected results were very good.

Another large bank was building its new headquarters a few metres away. However the latter went for the classical solutions of lighting and chilled water air conditioning.

The result is that for these last years HSBC Bank has used half of the energy per unit area that the other bank used. This is proved from actual energy consumption readings that came out in a study we recently did.

Another first at Golden Sands was the concept of a room energy management system. This included an intelligent controller inside the guest room to manage the use of energy by all appliances. We used smart card technology to reduce the use of fake cards in the switch to keep everything on. Then the main building management system manufacturers had not even started to produce such products and we had to design the system ourselves and getting it implemented by a forward loading Maltese electronic design firm. The result was that the Golden Sands Resort consumes 32KWh or average electrical consumption per guest per night (compared to 91KWh Radisson European average) and 225 litres average

“While the average water consumption is approximately 120 litres per person per day at home, this goes up to around 500 litres per guest night in five star hotels�

In 2003 we were designing the Radisson Golden Sands Resort and Spa. We studied the solutions for air conditioning that were used at the time, namely water cooled chillers (used at the Radisson Bay Point Hotel, Westin Dragonara, Corinthia San Gorg and Hilton) and after researching other available technologies, we came to the conclusion that the best solution was using VRF system with R410a, which was a new refrigerant that had just been developed. We even had to persuade Radisson engineers about our solution as they had never used this before and today, 10 years later, this is the technology that everyone else is using. The Hilton extension used this technology a few years after we pioneered it at Golden Sands.

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water consumption per guest night (compared to 391 litres Radisson European average).

Golden Sands also had one of the first closed system sewage treatment plants producing abundance of second-class water for cleaning, irrigation and toilet flushings.

No wonder the hotel was awarded an international environmental reward a few years after if was opened.

savings that shall result from some building detail. For instance, we simulate the energy saving in terms of reduced heat load for air conditioning reasons when insulation is applied to the roof of the building. We can calculate what is the thickness of insulation that shall give optimum results, that is a fast payback without overdesign. The advantage of being able to do this is that we can do an iteration exercise before the installation – this reduces excessive costs of overdesign and gives the optimum energy savings benefit to the building. This also applies to the type of glazing used and to shading devices to reduce direct sunlight on south facing walls and windows in summer but keeping the sunshine in winter. Thus, we can be of great help to the design architects and as a team, we can design an energy efficient building while keeping costs to a minimum.

There are a number of Maltese companies who are doing great work in energy and water conservation, designing and building products that are now marketed internationally.

However, a few of our competitors prefer to use run-of-the-mill solutions with little thinking and innovation and they can sell their services because it looks cheaper. A cheap service results in very expensive solutions, both immediate and eventual.

Unfortunately we do not invest enough energy to the promotion of our initiatives in the environmental field. However, the good thing about Malta is that reputation, good or bad moves fast and our best marketing tools are testimonials from our clients.

Another first for Malta is energy modelling of buildings which we started to do a few years ago. This consists in compiling a 3D model of the building that is being designed (for new buildings that are still being designed and for existing buildings being refurbished) and we simulate what are the energy

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Environment

a GREENER shade of we The future may not be as bleak as we might think.

However, we must all act together, Miguel Fevereiro from Terrasystematics, says.

TerraSystemics helps organisations find solutions to reduce their carbon footprint.

What progress have you achieved in recent years?

Since 2008 we’ve helped more than 200 organisations and individuals to take action on climate change.

We provide our e)mission services for carbon management which consist of, first, helping an organisation to measure its own carbon footprint (corporate, activity, event, or product) using an appropriate, recognised methodology. After all, you can only reduce what you measure.

We write or support organisations in reporting progress on their carbon footprint which by itself generally triggers carbon reductions.

The process of calculating a carbon footprint entails identifying sources of GHG emissions such as the use of fuels, electricity, travelling, materials and waste. Our reports can optionally include a specific chapter on carbon reduction measures too.

projects – which are then retired on behalf of our clients for the purpose of neutralising their specific carbon emissions.

Which projects have you been involved in?

Besides providing carbon management services and carbon offsets, Terrasystemics has been involved in three other areas as consultants and project developers.

The first is energy efficiency awareness campaigns. We have brought forth or been asked to participate in projects that promote and teach targeted audiences how they can benefit from using less energy. Such projects include the EnergyBus, EnergyTV, EnergyProfiler and the Most Efficient Home, which are all nation-wide campaigns promoted in association with partner organisations.

international organisations including the United Nations Development Programme, African Development Bank, Centre for the Development of Enterprise, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, and Portuguese Development Cooperation Institute. The recipients of these projects are developing countries where support is needed in order to mainstream climate change aspects into national or sectoral policies and development plans.

Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, GuineaBissau, Mozambique, East Timor, Moldova and Belize are some of the countries where we have developed such projects.

What was the effect of the projects you spearheaded on the reduction of emissions?

Most of our international consultancy projects target climate change adaptation rather than mitigation. It’s through our other three business areas of activity – energy efficiency awareness, energy management, and the e)mission carbon management services – that we directly or indirectly produce emission reductions.

“What works well in one country does not necessarily work as well in another but through knowledge sharing and transfer there is a lot to gain”

Many of the organisations we’ve worked with have subsequently managed to take action and have reported a reduction in their carbon footprint while managing to maintain, or even increase, their turnover.

That’s doing more with less – the definition of efficiency.

Through our e)mission carbon management services we have also helped organisations to communicate their carbon footprint progress, whether through reports for shareholders and stakeholders, public campaigns, leaflets, corporate websites and other channels. If the organisation fails to communicate its progress, it’s missing out on an opportunity to conquer market share.

Finally, we encourage our clients to neutralise or offset the remaining emissions. In this way, many organisations, events and products have achieved carbon neutrality. Since 2008 we have provided offsets that amount to 45 thousand tonnes of CO2 equivalent. These offsets are substantiated by the purchase of carbon credits – issued from carbon reduction

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We also provide energy services such as energy audits, energy management and reduction plans, and renewable energy solutions mainly for industrial facilities which are typically categorised as intensive-energy consumers. Our clients are legally required to act and report on their energy consumption and our work with them includes visiting their facilities with our team of experts in order to measure energy usage and identify opportunities to reduce consumption. In our reports we always describe what measures we propose with their technical and economic implementation aspects, giving organisations the tools they need to make informed decisions.

Our fourth area of activity is international consultancy on climate change and sustainable development. In this field of consultancy, our employers are

Projects where we promote energy efficiency awareness have triggered changes in the way the targeted audiences use energy daily.

Many of these projects are campaigns that disseminate best practices for saving energy and advertise efficient technologies.

Energy consumption remains one of the main causes of carbon emissions due to the use of fossil fuels. Therefore, it’s expected that these behavioural and technology uptake changes have had the beneficial collateral effect of reducing carbon emissions. For instance, EnergyBus – which was a mobile exhibition – was approved and funded by the Portuguese Energy Regulator for three nation-wide campaigns, because it’s expected to have potentially reduced as much as 4,600 tonnes of CO2 equivalent in the residential sector.

This is an estimate based on the fact that the project recorded nearly 100,000 visitors and it relates to electricity consumption alone.

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On the other hand the clients of our energy audits and energy optimisation services have generally reported to have implemented many of the energy saving measures that our experts prescribed, as is indeed required by law. These measures generally include the replacement of motors or engines, lighting fixtures, HVAC equipment, installing solar panels (PV or thermal) and monitoring systems, fuel switching, or even staff training and awareness raising. By reducing the amount of energy they use, these clients also reduce carbon emissions.

With regard to our e)mission carbon management services, we have directly reduced 45,000 tonnes of CO2 just from the offsets part of the mitigation strategy.

The projects that issued the carbon credits for these offsets are located in developing countries and closely follow the same methodology of validation and verification as of the CDM’s, which is one of Kyoto Protocol’s mechanisms for climate change mitigation. Subsequently, and together with our clients, we have supported projects in Brazil, Honduras, South Africa, Kenya, and Mozambique, where they not only reduce or avoid carbon emissions but they also benefit local communities.

Can synergies or parallels be found with Malta projects?

Not in terms of being eligible for carbon reduction projects that issue valid carbon credits. In a sense, this is a parallel between Malta and Portugal: developed countries are not eligible for such projects because of many reasons among which foremost is the question of additionally. Carbon projects must be additional, which is to say, go beyond business as usual, and it must be clear and demonstrated that the return from the carbon credits that are sold is a necessary condition for the success of the project itself.

Developed countries such as Malta and Portugal have responsibilities, regulations, and many sources of funding and so cannot justify the need for an additional source of return for them to put carbon mitigation projects in place.

With regards to consultancy projects in climate change and sustainable development, as these are specifically directed to developing countries and helping them integrate climate change into their plans and policies, a similar situation occurs. Malta will not usually be a beneficiary of such projects funded by organisations such as the UNDP, but may be a source of expertise and lessons learned. In this particular case, there are certain similarities between Malta and other small island developing states that arise from common geographical features, resource the archetype paper

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scarcity (including fresh water), relatively small populations, vulnerability to climate variability and climate change such as sea level rise and coastal erosion. This may prove to come in handy if experts in Malta wish to use their knowledge in climate change mainstreaming in international projects in that field. In many cases these international projects require setting up a team of experts from complementary areas of expertise which may include both consultants from the recipient country and abroad.

Other than that, our projects can very well be replicated and are sure to have parallels in Malta. There is no country which won’t benefit from energy efficiency awareness campaigns, and no industry as modernised as it may be which won’t benefit from better energy management.

What works well in one country does not necessarily work as well in another but through knowledge sharing and transfer there is a lot to gain.

What, in your opinion, is the current state of the environment and what will it be in 10 years’ time?

The world is currently both unsustainable and severely imbalanced. Many of us are living a lifestyle that not only exceeds the capacity of the planet to provide us with the goods and services at the pace we are using them up for our well-being, but also because some of what we now do will eventually be impossible to do in the future, or have negative consequences that trigger global changes.

The conditions in which we live now are all under threat from our own actions.

There is also imbalance because many of us use more resources than the planet can provide and replenish. At the same time, other people have to live with resources which are well short of their share. This imbalance is due to, among other reasons, our inability to effectively redistribute resources where they are needed.

Still, great progress has been made in some related areas, as was recently demonstrated by the reports on the Millennium Development Goals, soon to be replaced by the new UN Sustainable Development Goals.

These goals encompass the economic, social and environmental dimensions, and call for worldwide action for improving 17 indicators of sustainability.

I believe that the sustainability issues are currently back on the world’s agenda (after being slightly forgotten amid the economic crisis) and it looks like many countries are on track to push for serious commitment.

In 10 years I don’t expect to be living in a zero carbon circular economy unless some

breakthrough game-changer comes up. Yet I expect that in 10 years we will be seeing good progress on many of the Sustainable Development Goals, a greater uptake of renewable energies, and many countries on target with their climate change mitigation commitments.

Do you think we can achieve our targets, such as, for instance, the EU aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent by 2030?

It looks feasible. The European Commission has reported that the EU has overaccomplished its first Kyoto target, reducing GHG emissions by 18.3 per cent (or 16.9 per cent if aviation is included, in 2011, compared to 1990), and is therefore also well on track to reach the 2nd target which is a 20 per cent reduction by 2020. Serious action to reduce GHG emissions only began with the Kyoto Protocol. Hence, it’s fair to say that the greater part of the 18.3 per cent reduction was actually achieved in a very short amount of time. If by 2020 the EU’s GHG emissions will indeed be 20 per cent (or more) lower than in 1990, then it shows that in little more than 10 years we were able to reduce 20 per cent. Progress is being made on the Climate and Energy Package which was adopted in 2009. Give the EU another 10 years and it might very well reduce GHG emissions by 40 per cent.

Other targets may or may not be reached. In the GHG reduction business we have seen that while as a whole the EU is on track, some individual countries are not – a trend that will likely continue. In the 20-20-20 EU Strategy (now being revised, for targets to be met by 2030), the 20 per cent renewable energy in the total consumption target is likely to be achieved. As of 2014 the share of renewable energy was estimated to already be 15.3 per cent. On the other hand it now seems very challenging, if not unlikely, that the EU will be able to have 10 per cent of biofuels in the total amount of energy being consumed by vehicles in 2020. As of 2014 this figure was 5.7 per cent.

Increasing energy efficiency and halting biodiversity loss within the EU are other examples of environmental action with targets that have nearly opposite results.

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A greener shade of we Can we find a balance between achieving economic growth and caring more for the environment?

It’s not so much about finding a medium between development and the environment, but finding a kind of development that is sustainable.

Backwater

countries, for instance, we have a great opportunity to leapfrog or bypass some of the errors that some of the frontrunners have made.

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been accepted at the UNFCCC. For the time being, it therefore seems we’ll all go greener together or we’ll probably not go much greener at all.

Is going green always possible?

How greener can we be?

At the present or in the short term, the answer We should believe that in the longer term it is no. If to go green means, for instance, to will be possible to have a growing number be carbon-neutral, it becomes very difficult if of products, services, events, citizens, Development has historically had a not impossible for any given citizen to live a organisations, regions and countries closer negative impact on the environment and normal life. Even the most environmentally and closer to achieving optimal sustainability our well-being. We must therefore address aware people will at some point directly features such as being carbon-neutral, 100 this problem and correct the mistakes. or at least indirectly be responsible for the per cent recycled, zero biodiversity loss and Development is supposed to increase our ozone-depleting-free.

These are some of the well-being, threaten it. canfurther achieve The usenot of basements to We provide space Aqualift F Compact Aqualiftemission F XL of greenhouse gases on a daily for well-being accommodation is becoming increasingly Sewage basis. ultimate goals of going green.

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Frequently, Powerful, compact and reliable. wastewater disposal. Lifting rainwater which already exist, mainly if we consider particular dimensions: natural capital,toilets, which showers we want or drainage. washing facilities are located in the basement. Chamber ready for installation in a concrete occurs below the backwater level, or for use A lot can be done to go green and reduce products or services. How much greener we to preserve, conserve, enhance, use its For such applications, KESSEL supplies lifting floor, with integrated drain function to discharge with a separator. Available with 200, 300 and carbon emissions, but even after you drive can all be depends on how successful we will goodsstations and services for our benefit; human for installation in concrete floors. These surface water.

450 liter tank volume. your full plug-in electrical vehicle, switched be in doing what we all commit to do and how and social capital, which is ourselves, our lifting stations simply disappear in the ground and offer another special advantage.

The drain to 100 per cent renewable energy at home, will be in continuing to be able well-being, cultures and The useour of knowledge, basements toour provide further space successful Aqualift FweCompact Aqualift F XL integrated in the cover absorbs surface Ecolift furnished your house with all-natural products to detect what is unsustainable and how to diversity; and manufactured capital,all which for accommodation is becoming increasingly Backwater lifting station for pipes with natural Sewage lifting station for the complete basement Twin lifting stations for industrial / high volume water.

Even inFrequently, the event of atoilets, pipe burst or leak, or important. showers and bought your organic vegetables, correct it.thePowerful, is what we produce and build. The logical gradient to sewer.

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Lifting rainwater which the pump discharges water continually over the washing facilities are located in the basement. alternative a standard lifting station you’re still the partbackwater of a largerlevel, system that has solution should therefore be to find ways to Chamberto ready for installation in a with concrete occurs below or for use backwater level.

For such applications, KESSEL supplies lifting gravity sloped drainage. floor, with integrated drain function to discharge with a separator.

Available with 200, 300 and embedded emissions somewhere along the It’s also very clear now that in a globalised generally do more with less and to recycle stations for installation in concrete floors. These surface water.

450chain. liter tank It’s volume. as hard to go green for individuals world, consensus is a requirement as much as we can: balancing our well-being lifting stations simply disappear in the ground as it is for organisations, agencies, private or for everyone to go greener.

If it takes and that of the planet and all other species. and offer another special advantage. The drain Ecolift public companies and government – we are compromise for us to have consensus Shifting to a low-carbon or even zero-carbon integrated in the cover absorbs all surface Backwater lifting station for pipes with natural all part of the system and must therefore be economy goevent in that asor leak, and concerted actions, then it seems fairly water.seems Even intothe of direction a pipe burst gradient to the sewer. World innovation – the pump discharges water continually over the reasonable part of a solution. to have principles such «as the does the changing it from a linear to a circular alternative to a standard lifting station with backwater level. common but differentiated responsibilities» economy.

It’s also imperative that we For more information visit gravity sloped drainage. one that for instance seems finally to have learn from our mistakes. In the developing www.terrasystemics.com

PROTECTION and LIFTING STATION

Lifting stations for installation in concrete slab/floor, underground and free-standing set-ups.

Lifting stations for installation in concrete slab/floor, underground and free-standing set-ups.

Backwater

PROTECTION and LIFTING STATION

• Backwater Valves • Lifting Stations

Grease and Fuel

• Backwater Valves • Lifting Stations

SEPARATION

Water has to stay clean so we are providing clarity.

Wastewater treatment

Fuel Backwater can be part ofGrease our greenand solution

Lifting stations for installation in concrete www.e-missionneutral.com slab/floor, undergro

SEPARATION PROTECTION and Water has to stay clean LIFTING STATION so we are providing clarity.

Water is one of our most precious resources and while the ease with which we acquire waterOil/fuel can give us theare impression thatwater it is and an separators used to protect unlimited resource, in reality it’s not.

That’s sewage systems from soiling through mineral oils.must Thanks to the in principle of gravity, the almost why we invest measures to protect insoluble mineral components this resource and keep it clean.rise to the top of

Leading in drainage

The use of basements to provide further space for accommodation is becoming increasingly important. Frequently, toilets, showers or washing facilities are located in the basement.

For such applications, KESSEL supplies lifting stations for installation in concrete floors. These lifting stations simply disappear in the ground and offer another special advantage. The drain integrated in the cover absorbs all surface water. Even in the of a pipe burst or leak, The KESSEL Company has been in event the separation pump water continually over the business sincethe 1988 anddischarges offers a multitude of sysems designbackwater to handle level. a customer’s specific

Operations from small restaurants to large scale food processing plants disposing grease, oils and fats into public wastewater drainage systems are becoming an increasing concern to industry, needs. From the beginning KESSEL has relied government and environmental agencies. on the invaluable advantages of Polyethylene Current regulations require the installation as the material for construction of its separation provides separators for any various ofKessel a separation system to separate type systems. It’s KESSEL’s extensive background in ofbusinesses, damaging substance as grease, oil, the plastics and wastewater field that allow us ranging (such from small restaurant fuel, detergents, heavy metals etc.) from the to offer you separation systems to solve your kitchens to industrial food processing plants wastewater effluent. problems.

Operations from small restaurants to large scale The KESSEL Company has been in the separation

Aqualift

Sewage li drainage.

Chamber floor, with surface w

Ecolift

Backwate gradient t alternative gravity slo

• Backwater Valves

Lifting stations for installation • Lifting Stations handling thousands of meals a day.

Kessel offers various solutions in the form MADE IN GERMANY in concrete slab/floor, underground and free-standing set-ups. food processing plants disposing grease, oils and business since 1988 and offers a multitude of Kessel wastewater treatment systems help in of separators and wastewater treatment the wastewater on account of their low specific gravity and collect on the surface.

systems to protect this precious resource.

Oil/fuel are used to protect water and The useseparators of basements to provide further space Kessel offers grease and andthrough oil increasingly sewage systems from soiling mineral for accommodation isfuel becoming oils. Thanks to the that principle of gravity, the almost important.

Frequently, toilets, showers or separators to ensure wastewater insoluble mineral components rise tobasement. the facilities arebuildings located in pipes washing from commercial asthe well astop of the wastewater onfree account ofblockage their low specific such remain applications, KESSEL supplies lifting publicFor sewers from gravity and on the stations for collect installation in surface. concrete floors. These by removing grease and food waste from lifting stations simply disappear in the ground wastewater systems. and offer another special advantage. The drain integrated in the cover absorbs all surface Kessel relies on in the water.

Even thematerial event ofpolyethylene a pipe burst or leak, (PE). the Thispump lightweight plastic the exact discharges wateroffers continually over the backwater level. characteristics required for this application: easy installation, leak proof monolithic bodies, easy to clean and most importantly, 100 per cent corrosion free. Kessel grease separators are manufactured according to the EN1825 standards while fuel separators are compliant to the EN858 standard.

solutions

solutions

• Backwater Valves • Lifting Stations

the archetype paper

Issue No. 7

fats into public wastewater drainage systems sysems design to handle a customer’s specific cleaning domestic wastewater in areas which needs. From the beginning KESSEL has relied are becoming an increasing concern to industry, Tower Street, Msida Tel: 2011 7932 info@banjuboutique.com are not connected to the public main sewers. governmentFand environmental agencies. on the invaluable Aqualift Compact Aqualift F XL advantages of Polyethylene Kessel developed a fully biological and Current regulations require the installation as the material for construction of /itshigh separation facebook.com/BanjuBoutiqueMsida www.banjuboutique.com Sewage lifting station for the complete basement Twin lifting stations for industrial volume of a separation system to separate any type wastewater systems. It’s disposal.

KESSEL’s extensive background in economic system which allows maintenance drainage.

Powerful, compact and reliable.

Lifting rainwater which Water has to stay clean -us of damaging substance (such as grease, oil, occurs the plastics that costs and power consumption to reduced Chamber ready for installation in be a concrete belowandthewastewater backwaterfield level, or allow for use fuel, detergents, etc.) from the with to offer you systems to clarity. solve so weseparation are providing with integrated drainmetals function to discharge a separator.

Available with 200, 300 your and tofloor, a minimum.

All heavy wastewater treatment wastewater effluent. problems. surface water. systems are manufactured in accordance to 450 liter tank volume.

MADE IN GERMANY EN12566.

Grease and Fuel SEPARATION

Grease a

Ecolift

Backwater lifting station for pipesStreet, withGerman natural Kessel is a traditional family-owned Tower Msida Tel: 2011 7932 info@banjuboutique.com gradient to thehalf sewer.

World innovation – in the company with a century experience alternative to a standardwww.banjuboutique.com lifting station with facebook.com/BanjuBoutiqueMsida waste disposal systems and is present in gravity sloped drainage. various countries including Malta. Using the latest technology and employing over 400 dedicated and highly trained staff, Kessel Oil/fuel separators are used to protect water and is represented in Malta by Banju Boutique, Banjusystems Boutiquefrom Solutions, Street Msida sewage soilingTower through mineral oils.

Thanks the principle gravity, the almost a bathroom and ancillary service company For more to information callofon 2011 7932 or visit insoluble mineral components rise to the top of renowned for its reliability. www.banjuboutique.com the wastewater on account of their low specific gravity and collect on the surface.

SEP

Wate so we

Operation food proce fats into are becom governme Current r of a sepa of damag fuel, dete wastewat

29

BEDS

MATTRESSES

PILLOWS

ACCESSORIES

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With an innovative mattress developed using the worlds most advanced natural materials, each guest can have their bed personalized to their unique preference in minutes.

A choice of three different levels of firmness will be offered for customized comfort.

Offer your guests the option upon booking of choosing their preffered firmness. In just a few minutes, our Guest mattress is transformed to suit your guests personal needs.

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Multi Firmness - Patented heat-absorption technology keeping you cool and comfortable throughout the night Natural comfortable Memory Foams providing optimal support whilst removing partner motion transfer

Easily change the firmness by swapping one topper for another. Firm Topper, Medium Topper and a Soft Plush Topper.

A topper that can be switched in minutes; guests arriving to their room will find their chosen bed in place when they arrive.

A system of revolutionary mattress toppers engineered specifically for Hotels that offers guests three choices to customize their bed: Medium, Firm and Plush.

The Comfur Guest™ Mattresses will meet the needs of your guests through this personalization.

Join us. Be a part of the Future.

Mdina Road Zebbug / Tel: 21 461 961 / www.mattresscollection.com.mt

Design

The pursuit of beauty Beauty is what makes life more enjoyable. And if that beauty is also kind on the environment, then it’s even more precious, Marise Pace from Grey & Adler says.

“I’ve always wanted to make people enjoy my idea of beauty”

In recent years, we have become more aware of our responsibilities towards the environment. How green is your world?

Archetype:

Marise Pace: Definitely not green enough. I wish it were and

I do push that agenda but more needs to be done. However, contradictions abound. On one hand, we are careful about what is good to the environment, and on the other, we install solar panels on our rooftops in a manner that is definitely not kind on our urban aesthetic. And we landscape in such a poor manner that your eyes hurt. So, yes, it’s good to be kinder to the environment, but we also need to look after how our world looks like.

Another contradiction is when you order something ecofriendly and then it’s sent packaged in a way that is not ecofriendly at all. We are then taxed heavily for the packaging.

But then I’m never sure where the tax goes: does it go to encourage or develop greener living?

I do my bit in many ways especially at home and at work, but it’s never enough.

How much do you push the green agenda with your clients?

A:

MP: It’s not easy to convince them. They consider the option but ironically the green option is more expensive and many clients opt out. We need more education but we also need incentives, such as subsidies or tax rebates, which make green products and services more accessible.

Education should also play a bigger part not just for clients, architects and designers but especially for developers. Many times, the primary consideration for developers is to make money rather than to provide spaces for comfortable living. Of course, any company needs to make a profit: however, green and aesthetically pleasing projects will always find buyers.

We need to change the way we think and do business. When that happens, clients will follow suit.

What inspired you to get in this line of business?

A:

MP: I’ve always wanted to make people enjoy my idea of beauty. I was always obsessed with how people live and what they place in their home. But mainly I always wanted to create a better environment for me and for others. Beauty, as they say, is all subjective but it is also something that can be learnt or at least appreciated more and this is what I hope to do with Grey & Adler: make people see, appreciate and want beauty to accompany them at home. And by pushing the green agenda, I hope to one day make my own contribution to saving a bit of the environment.

A:

What continues to inspire you?

MP: My search for how people lived and continue to live in

comfort and surrounded by beauty takes me to places all over the world. I look back at the past and try to find what people liked and why. And do the same in the present – it’s an ongoing quest and I love it.

It’s always intriguing to find out why people choose particular comforts over others. The biggest compliment I receive from clients is when they tell me – and they do this often – that they hardly ever want to leave their homes as they are so happy to be in the company of my furnishings, creations, and the elements of beauty I gave them to enjoy.

A: What is quality to you and how easy is it to convince your clients to invest in quality?

MP: Quality is not determined by the price tag which is sometimes what guides people when looking for quality. It is true that quality is not cheap, but then there is also expensive stuff and materials which are tacky and hardly eco-friendly.

This is where I try to make the difference to my clients’ world: choosing right, choosing what makes life for them even more enjoyable. Because beauty and appreciating beauty is very enjoyable and leads us to lead a better life not just in our environment but with others.

I believe and push forward all that is crafted and pleasing to the eyes. This is my true passion and mission in life.

the archetype paper

Issue No. 7

31

Food

Nature in the kitchen Donald Caligari from Tal-Petut explains why farm to fork tastes better.

Food, its supply and restaurants should be more central to the green debate. What is your take on this?

At Tal-Petut, we use local produce and source within a limited area of around a three-mile radius. This is because we believe that the carbon footprint is too high a price to pay when restaurants purchase overseas produce, especially since most produce is available locally on our doorstep. We also grow some of our organic produce and all our olives in Ġnejna and Żurrieq – this makes our kitchen more sustainable.

know your sources. Do children nowadays actually know where food comes from?

In recent years, there has been a shift with some parents informing children better. At Tal-Petut, I have one rule of house, which is to talk to children and discuss with them what they would like to eat and what sort of compromise we can reach to entertain their palate .We also try to coach parents to allow children to decide for themselves what they wish to eat. Children often surprise you with what food they are willing to experiment.

Moreover, food is dependent on mood

“The concept at Tal-Petut is based on Mother Nature being the chef while I’m the cook” What do you as a restaurateur contribute to the environment through food preparation, food choice, and ingredients sourced?

Simple – we use 95 per cent of what we purchase, including foliage. Moreover, all our preserves are homemade. We use natural resources by assessing wind conditions, sun, and humidity levels when drying tomatoes, meats and herbs and salting produce. We use raw sugar to preserve seasonal produce, which we then use later. We also store our vegetable and fruit produce on our counter in fresh conditions or in bowls of water in order to prolong their freshness and avoid using refrigeration.

Are people willing to pay for well-sourced food?

With our concept we keep our prices fair and reachable by all walks of life – this, in turn, generates repeat trade, as patrons appreciate our fresh local produce and homemade dishes and are willing to pay for that.

One of the most important food lessons is to the archetype paper

Issue No. 7

and trust, so it’s important to treat a child’s appetite as we treat ours.

Population growth, climate change, comfort for all as well as people today needing to travel and eat out more. Is all this sustainable?

No – this is the beginning of the end.

If we had to hold an impact assessment on tourism, food preparation, entertainment, water consumption, sewage and other services consumed by 1.4 million tourists and add that to the impact left by us locals, it is evident that we are heading into a brick wall. It’s very short-sighted to just look at the bottom line.

We Maltese should think boutique and not that we have a huge land mass. For instance, if we reduce the number of visitors and have a better product and more sustainable practices, we can still generate the same revenue. This would even reduce the major water table issues that we have.

Notwithstanding all these issues, Archetype also believes we need to have fun in life. After all, food remains one of the most important aspects of our life.

How do you bring enjoyment to the table?

The main issue is that most people think quantity is the way to have more fun. It’s like eating a whole packet of cheap mints or eating a single mint which really hits the spot – which would you choose?

At Tal-Petut, we are first of all a team and we make sure that all our patrons feel this.

A good dining experience should just be that.

However, to achieve this, there is one simple but major rule: eliminate anxiety. Our entry helps to do that – our patrons are greeted by a display of fresh produce homemade produce displayed on an old green grocer marble top counter. Once greeted, we also inform patrons that we only serve one sitting so there is no rush.

We don’t hand menus – rather, we discuss with our patrons what seasonal dishes we have. The concept at Tal-Petut is based on Mother Nature being the chef while I’m the cook. Our plating of dishes is mainly based on family service where selection is available for all to taste – if patrons are full, we also give doggy bags.

Our patrons also know we do not serve ego food but honest and sustainable produce sourced locally.

Food is dependent on four pillars: what the local land gives you, rituals and traditions surrounding your religion or beliefs, social status and luxury food (imports).

At Tal-Petut we decide on the night how many guest we can facilitate and we have no target constraints. We do not offer menus but we offer our kitchen and produce.

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Quality at affordable prices Kitchen | Living | Dining | Bedroom

Opening Hours Monday - Friday 9am - 7pm

Saturday 9am - 1pm

Mill Street, Qormi. www.joinwell.com.mt

joinwellmalta +356 2278 2000

Furniture with passion since 1947

Design

The writing is on the wall

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. When placed on a wall for everyone to see and enjoy, it’s probably worth more.

Custom-printed ceramic tiles by Deco Manufacturing Limited add a new dimension to a home. Providing an explosion of colours and ideas, these tiles are a great opportunity to express moods, character and life through art.

the archetype paper

Issue No. 7

These tiles are also ideal for any commercial space, including catering outlets. A view enhances a diner’s eating experience – Deco’s custom-printed ceramic tiles provide this view.

When people visit a restaurant, they’re looking for more than just food on a plate – they’re looking for an experience. From the minute someone walks through the door, there should be an immediate chemistry with the environment.

To ensure such an experience, everything from restaurant design to the restaurant menu should be carefully planned and arranged. Deco custom-printed ceramic tiles play a critical role to offer a unique set-up in any culinary environment. Whether it’s a logo, specific design or image, Deco customprinted ceramic tiles add a unique character to any outlet.

Deco’s tiles offer the possibility to print directly on tiles. Images, designs or logos are enlarged to any size requirements and divided into the number of tiles that

fit into the area desired. Artwork is printed on transfer paper and then all tiles are decorated one by one and subsequently exposed to high temperatures.

Ceramic tile murals are produced via paper transfer, the same process that is used to print on porcelain. The tiles for print need to be white with a special photographic coating and are available in various sizes.

The printed tiles are durable and can be washed only with water and soap. The tiles are to be used indoors and not in areas exposed to direct sunlight.

Deco Manufacturing Limited brings affordable luxury combined with colour, style and character to every domestic or corporate space.

For more information contact Deco Manufacturing Limited on 2169 2576/ 7 and info@decomalta.com or visit www.decomanufacturing.net

35

Energy

Financing

energy efficiency investments There are various models to finance the energy efficiency sector, says Mark Scicluna Bartoli.

Mark Scicluna Bartoli is the Head of EU & Institutional Affairs at Bank of Valletta and is also responsible for Bank of Valletta’s Brussels EU Representative Office.

The introduction of the EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive in 2012 and the subsequent implementation of national energy efficiency action plans in every Member State places increased pressure on Member States to increase their investment in energy saving solutions.

While grants can incentivise companies and individuals to invest further in energy saving solutions, the volume of investment that is required to achieve the established targets outweighs the planned budgets allocated to such initiatives both at national and European level.

In this context the European Commission has been working with European Member States to develop financial instruments that attract private investment to complement public funds, thereby increasing the pot of funds available to finance energy efficiency investments. These financial instruments may tap into the European Regional Development Funds which are allocated to the Member States as part of the EU’s regional policy to entice banks to place their own funds to increase investments in energy efficiency.

The Bank of Valletta Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises initiative was a European best practice example of such a financial instrument for SMEs. In the case of JEREMIE the Maltese Government placed €10m of ERDF funds in the form of a guarantee against which Bank of Valletta provided over €60m of its own funds, thereby assisting over 650 SMEs to finance their investment projects at favourable lending conditions.

A similar model to JEREMIE can be developed for financing the energy efficiency sector. Public funds can be used to develop a financial instrument to incentivise investment in energy efficiency. One such financial instrument which has been developed by the European Commission is called a renovation loan. It uses ERDF funds as a guarantee for banks to provide lending at preferential

36

interest rates together with technical assistance to assist private individuals invest in energy saving solutions in residential buildings.

Malta may have the disadvantage of not having the size to develop a financial instrument exclusively on energy efficiency in residential buildings. However if renewable energy solutions are included as part of the eligible activities and the grants provided to this sector are blended with preferential loans, the option to create a financial instrument to increase investment in this sector may be feasible. The feasibility of implementing such a financial instrument for the 2014-2020 programming period in Malta would need to be part of an ex-ante assessment undertaken by the Maltese government.

In the meantime, Bank of Valletta has developed its own Eco Loan product. It provides preferential lending terms to finance environmental-friendly equipment such as solar water heaters, solar lamps, solar collectors, photovoltaic systems and electric and hybrid cars or motorcycles. For more information, visit https://www.bov.com/ content/eco-loan, or contact BOV Customer Service Centre on 2131 2020.

At a European Union level, the European Commission is taking other initiatives to address the financing gap in the energy efficiency sector. The European Commission and the United Nations Environment Programme - Finance Initiative set up the Energy Efficiency Financial Institutions Group. This was established in 2013 to address the need to increase the scale

of energy efficiency investments across the EU. It is composed of over 120 expert participants coming from public and international institutions together with private financial institutions, where Bank of Valletta is represented.

The working group explored why more investment is not flowing to energy efficiency, despite its evident benefits. The EEFIG has looked into the drivers of demand and supply of energy efficiency investments in buildings, industry and SMEs. In addition, it assessed different financing streams that can be developed at a European level. Here Bank of Valletta contributed its expertise in this area.

The report by the EEFIG, which was published on February 26, 2015, contains recommendations on a range of actions that could help overcome the current challenges in obtaining long-term financing for energy efficiency. On June 18, 2015 the findings of the report were presented during the European Union Sustainable Energy Week in Brussels together with high level speakers sharing their experiences in investing in energy efficiency.

The EEFIG report and related information can be found on www.eefig.com

Bank of Valletta p.l.c. is a public limited company licensed to carry out the business of banking and investment services in terms of the Banking Act (Cap. 371 of the Laws of Malta) and the Investment Services Act (Cap. 370 of the Laws of Malta).Registered Office: 58, Triq San Zakkarija, Il-Belt Valletta VLT 1130 - Malta, Registration Number: C 2833 the archetype paper

Issue No. 7

Homes

Protect your home

When it comes to waterproofing, the jack-of-all-trades solution is master of none.

Find the right solution.

There are various types of waterproofing membranes, with the best options on the market being those made from resin and polyurethane. The various types are usually designed to suit different types of applications – however, when and where do you apply them?

“We know it all and we have been using this type of application for many years.” This is the classic phrase that we usually hear in the building industry by many self-taught applicators. Yet the fact that a person has been doing the same thing for many years does not qualify a solution as being the right one.

A good waterproofing system for Malta must withstand heat more than water. Two important products that are leaving their mark in this field are resin and polyurethane, which are designed for various applications such as in foundations, pools and roofs planters.

Every project has its particular exigencies.

And this is absolute when it comes to waterproofing and resin flooring. NAICI NP5 Dark resins are usually designed for foundation walls and planters. They can easily stop mould and humidity. Moreover, they are all root repellent, thus preventing any damages caused by roots. Those designed for roofs are fibre reinforced and can withstand heat and movements.

Unfortunately materials are sometimes not applied in the right manner. The Malta Professional Waterproofing and Resin Flooring Association was formed with the aim to teach and promote the correct use of materials and proper workmanship. The association constantly organises seminars on the matter where prominent Italian resin architects and installers are brought over to share and teach the constant innovations that are being developed in this field. Some of these innovative products include the NAICI resin thermal membrane – besides waterproofing, this is able to reduce heat intake by 90 per cent. It is also designed to resist for years the severe Maltese summer and is elastic enough to expand during concrete movements.

An important factor is the environment.

Bitumen products melt at low temperatures, create heat intake and are considered a hazard to the environment. Acrylic products on the other hand do not have a good resistance to UV rays and do not last more than a winter or two. Companies like NAICI are constantly researching and creating products that are made with environmentally friendly materials and with the knowledge that good waterproofing system for our island must withstand heat more than water. These materials can be applied with ease and are available at the Resin and Membrane Centre.

On the other hand resin flooring can satisfy any design style demand and is typically greatly recommended where a high standard of hygiene – such as in homes, hospitals and clinics – is required. It can be used where resistance to oils and acids is necessary, particularly in industrial premises. Resin floors are effortless to clean, scratch-resistant and visually appealing. Unlike other types of flooring, resin floors do not make use of joints and therefore are easier and faster to finish and add a new dimension to flooring.

Resin floors can be applied directly on the existing floors – this saves the customer the effort and costs associated with dismantling and removing debris. NAICI resin floors are certified to be used in the food industry and where a high sanitary level is required.

NAICI products ensure that every project is at its best. The Resin and Membrane Centre personnel have the ability to transform any environment in a unique artistic place.

The NAICI International Academy together with the Malta Professional Waterproofing and Resin Flooring Association and the Resin and Membrane Centre regularly organise seminars on resin flooring for those who wish to learn how to implement them. This academy is renowned in Italy for its constant dedication in the industry.

For more information visit the Resin and Membrane Centre showroom at 264, Old Railway Track, St Venera or www.theresincentre.com the archetype paper

Issue No. 7

37

News

A well-deserved rest The Comfur Guest Mattress rewards your guests with a good night’s sleep.

A good night’s sleep: four simple words which may be more important than anything else when it comes to a guest’s lodging experience. After all, even the most luxurious of rooms can disappoint if a guest spends a restless night in bed.

Your guests' needs and preferences are diverse and the demand for a personalised sleep environment is increasing. Mattress Collection has come up with the right solution for those seeking the perfect rest away from home.

Mattress Collection has introduced the world’s first multi-firmness hotel guest mattress: the Comfur Guest® Mattress. This mattress caters for multiple guest preferences and provides different levels of comfort in a matter of minutes without the need to rotate or flip the mattress.

The Comfur Guest® mattress is an innovative mattress developed using the world’s most advanced natural materials. Each guest

38

can have their bed personalised to their unique preference upon booking their hotel room or at check-in as the guest bed can be personalised in a matter of minutes.

Comfur Guest® uses a system of revolutionary mattress toppers engineered specifically for hotels, boutique hotels and guesthouses. The staff can easily change the firmness by swapping one topper for another in a matter of minutes, which means that guests arriving to their room will find their chosen bed in place.

Using proprietary technology, Mattress Collection has designed the Comfur Guest® mattress to offer three different levels of firmness for customised comfort; firm, medium or soft. This offers guests the freedom to personalise their sleep during every stay.

The iconic Comfur Guest® mattresses are the ultimate in luxury bedding featuring the latest technology. They offer easily interchangeable toppers, patented heat absorbing technology to keep guests cool and comfortable throughout the night, water resistant mattress covers, and natural comfortable memory foams which provide optimal support while removing partner motion transfer.

Using formulated technology, a combination of advanced foams at the exact density and firmness merge to provide the perfect comfort and more importantly, the correct spinal alignment every guest requires.

Easy zip removal makes changing the toppers quick and effortless. Both topper covers and mattress cover are easily removable and washable. Waterproof mattress and topper covers are also available upon request. All mattresses are made in Europe and are certified Class 1 Medical Devices under the European Directive 93/42 for the prevention, treatment and alleviation of pain. All mattresses are delivered and assembled at no extra fee.

The firm hotel bed is a feature of the past.

Join the growing list of visionary hoteliers set to redefine the most important aspect of the room: the bed and the sleep experience itself.

Mattress Collection is in Mdina Road, Żebbuġ For more information call on 2146 1961 or visit www.mattresscollection.com.mt the archetype paper

Issue No. 7

Ceramic Mural Tiles Ceramic Mural Ceramic Mural Tiles Tiles

Framing Services Framing Services Framing Services

Printing Services Printing Services Printing Services

Wallpapers & Murals Wallpapers & Murals Wallpapers & Murals

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Print on Wood Print on Wood Print on Wood

Consult, Design, Manufacture, Install Consult, Design, Manufacture, Install Consult, Design, Manufacture, Install

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