Valentino Architects’ conversion project The Mill House (Dar il-Mitħna) was named the winner of the Prix D’Honneur in the category for ‘Adaptation of Historical Buildings to New Uses’ at the XVII Din l-Art Ħelwa Architectural Heritage Awards Competition. This year marked the 17th edition of the Awards, which were announced at a ceremony held on the 5th of December 2023 at Palazzo de la Salle in Valletta.

Din l-Art Ħelwa is a non-governmental organization which was founded in 1965, with their mission being the to safeguard Malta’s cultural heritage and the natural environment for future generations, including the hands-on conservation and restoration of built and natural heritage. The awards were set up to encourage and motivate architectural best practice and are carried out each year with the support of the Kamra tal-Periti.

Projects were judged on the quality of the work executed, their historic, cultural, educational and social relevance, the preliminary research conducted and the aesthetic and visual merit. Other categories which formed part of the awards included ‘Regeneration of an Area’ and ‘Restoration and/or Conservation of Buildings’.

Dar Il-Mitħna converts a 16th century mill room and ancillary heritage Listed spaces into a family home. Its central design intervention is a glazed bridge that floats over an inner courtyard, activating the conversion with new circulation. Unlike many conservation and heritage projects in our local context, the design for Dar il-Mitħna looks to strike a balance between preservation and contemporary usefulness, resisting the treatment of the original fabric as untouchable or intransigent. Instead, it looks to celebrate its character through deliberate contrast. Dar il-Mitħna positions the central courtyard between a cluster of heritage buildings as a connecting agent, with three volumes extending upwards from the original buildings’ existing footprint. The volumes rest above the existing fabric with shallow stone courses marking old from new. Invisible from street views, the glazed walkway runs along two internal facades with its exterior graduating from reflection to translucency. The walkway’s opacity moderates with the sun, in the morning reflecting stone and village views, at night radiating light onto the household’s pool below.

The jury for this year’s edition was chaired by Din l-Art Ħelwa council member Maria Grazia Cassar, together with architects Joanna Spiteri Staines and Patrick Calleja and Prof. Antonio Mollicone, and architect Nick Bewick from A-MDL Circle based in Milan.