Din l-Art Helwa’s annual architectural heritage awards, held yesterday at Palazzo de la Salle in Valletta, named architecture and design studio AP Valletta as the overall winner of its 18th edition.
The studio received the night’s top honour, the Judge Maurice Caruana Curran Prize, which recognizes the best overall winner in all categories. The award is named after the founder of Din l-Art Ħelwa, which celebrates its 60th anniversary next year.
AP also won the Restoration and Conservation of Buildings category for its years-long work on St Paul’s Anglican Pro-Cathedral, and received a diploma in the Adaptation of Historical Buildings to New Uses category for a residential project in Naxxar.
In the latter category, Valentino Architects took home the award for Dar San Rokku in Zebbug, while Perit Ruben Paul Borg won the Regeneration of an Area award for the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre and Nature Park at Xrobb l-Ghagin.
A commendation was also received by Friends of Villa Frere in the Restoration and Conservation of Buildings category for Villa Hay and the Gardener’s Cottage at Villa Frere, Pieta’.
This long-standing initiative organised by Din l-Art Ħelwa, a non-governmental and non-profit voluntary organisation founded in 1965, “motivates and inspires architectural best practice with particular reference to our cultural built heritage and natural environment,” the entity states, adding it is unique in that the jury panel visits each of the project submissions to evaluate them.
In his speech, Executive President Patrick Calleja highlighted the significance and vulnerability of Malta’s rich cultural heritage and the work carried out by the NGO.
“Sadly, some architects, together with the very State apparatus – the Planning Authority – that was ostensibly set up to protect our heritage, are also complicit in the ruination occurring around us. But today we are here to acknowledge, celebrate and salute… not just the award winners but the projects, the architects, the engineers, contractors, the craftspeople, the volunteers and the patrons, who have contributed to the preservation and protection of our cultural identity.”
Photography: Din l-Art Ħelwa
