The clients had at their disposal 250 sq.A m of land with the possibility of building on 40% of the area. And the architects had to meet the following requirements: create an open-plan living room, a separate dining room, two large bedrooms with bathrooms, an office, a home office, a three-car garage, a swimming pool, a large garden and an area to listen to the piano.
After hours of pondering the project, Briffa came up with the wholly unconventional idea of putting nearly half the house above the pool to make room for a garden. The extraordinary house took several years to build and the family moved into their new home in 2011.
You can see on the photo how extraordinary the joint work of the clients and the architect was.
An iron staircase invites visitors to walk above the garden directly under the overhanging white structure. Tall Maltese-style doors invite you inside. The hallway, created with horizontal lines of glass, steel, wood and marble, has a staircase and two exits. One of them leads down into the living area and the other one is just a narrow glass aperture through which you can see the pool.
Large living room includes a music room, the acoustics of which have been improved thanks to high ceilings. The dining room has stairs to the garage and very bright kitchen. The bathrooms, toilets, and ventilation system are cleverly hidden behind doors and cabinets.
A spacious and bright dining room with glass walls literally ‘floats’ over the pool and olive trees.
What makes the floating in the air house by Chris Briffa Architects in Malta so extraordinary? Is it the innovative design, the unique location, or the use of sustainable materials? I would love to know more about the concept behind this remarkable residence and how it manages to float in the air.