DTR

Our very own Sarah Chetcuti will be presenting her dissertation on Seismic Retrofitting of Unreinforced Masonry Buildings. We wish her and the other up-and-coming structural engineers the best of luck!

Another project of ours completed for Kunsill Lokali San Pawl il-Baħar and the community of Burmarrad which consists of a complete revamp of a once dilapidated children's playground.

New playground for Burmarrad families - TVMnews.mt A new recreational space was inaugurated in Burmarrad with an investment of €160,000 by the Local Council of St Paul's Bay, with funds from the scheme 'Financing for Development and Improvement in the conditions of the Playing Fields in Localities in Malta and in Gozo.

Voting is now open for the MASP Awards: https://www.maspawards.com/

Our second project is located over a section of a stormwater culvert in Qormi that extends inconspicuously beyond Qormi through several towns forming a channel that lies empty and dirty for most of the year except when the occasional downpour of rain is directed through it. In this section of the culvert, an opportunity was found to introduce a new garden for the local community and at the same time improve what was a derelict and heavily polluted stretch of road into a healthy and spacious garden and a solution for hacking existing blue infrastructure with green corridors and a potentially new network for green mobility.

The creation of a new large open garden that can connect with the surrounding public realm and other potential green infrastructure, built over a derelict or previously uninhabitable space is a game changer when one considers this project as a toolkit to apply over other parts of the flood-relief culvert in other towns. It is an innovative solution that can be applied in other space-restricted and dense urban areas. The realisation of this project proves that infrastructure can become vibrant and essential spaces for communities.

Photo credit: Clive Pace Pictures

Voting is now open for the MASP Awards: https://www.maspawards.com/

Our first project submitted for the awards is the Cottonera Olympic Indoor Pool, an extension to the existing Cottonera sports hall. Located on a site that ‘cuts’ through part of the glacis of the Cottonera Lines, the pool enclosure was designed to bridge the existing building with the topography of the glacis, this resulting in a wave-like form of the engineered-timber roof. The choice for engineered timber was not solely based on the architectural requirement, but also on the performative requirement for a roof that can span 42.5m freely in a chlorinated environment. Familiar materials like concrete and steel were not suitable due to the span and environmental conditions, and this led us to look at other materials, ultimately choosing Glulam (a type of engineered timber).

The use of timber at this scale is a first both for us at DTR and for Malta, marking an important architectural achievement. The successful delivery of this innovative project would not have been possible without the collaboration of a dedicated team of contractors and suppliers.

Photo credit: DanielM Photography

dtr's latest project in collaboration with Malta Tourism Authority, Kunsill Lokali San Pawl il-Baħar, Andrew Vassallo LTD, Projects Plus. Proud to having been entrusted with a project of this nature.