Din l-Art Ħelwa to host XVIII Architectural Heritage Awards ceremony at the Malta Society of Arts, encouraging greater focus and cultural investment into heritage preservation

Following a call for submissions for the 2024 edition of the architectural heritage awards, Din l-Art Ħelwa (DLĦ) will be hosting an awards ceremony to announce winners on Monday 18 November at the Malta Society of Arts, Valletta.

This is the 18th edition of the national trust’s awards, building on a long lineage of recognition of conservation of heritage architectural practice. The awards programme is carried out each year with prizes awarded in three categories: Regeneration of an Area; Adaptation of Historical Buildings to New Uses; and the Restoration and/or Conservation of Buildings. The ‘Judge Maurice Caruana Curran Award’, named after DLĦ’s founder, is then awarded to the best winner overall in all categories.

Projects are judged on the quality of the work executed; historic, cultural, educational and social relevance; research conducted; and overall architectural merit. This year, the judging panel was comprised of Perit Joanna Spiteri Staines, Perit Godwin Vella, Ann Dingli, and Perit Andrea Bianco, who was nominated as a judge by the Kamra tal-Periti. The judges visited all submitted projects over two days at the end of October, with the panel’s decision set to be announced at the ceremony in November.

On launching the call for submissions, DLĦ lamented the loss of the island’s natural and built heritage, citing the onslaught of poor-quality, unabated development as the fight against which the awards are waged. Executive President Patrick Calleja said:

“The public has on various occasions protested publicly against the lack of planning and the failure of the Government to highlight the importance of sustainability in the country’s economic model. While it is paramount for Din l-Art Ħelwa to oppose that which is wrong, it is also appropriate to encourage and promote quality architectural projects”.

Following their visits, the judges noted the importance of including all participating collaborators, tradespeople and stakeholders within the acknowledgement of the awards, and as such encourage all project team members to attend the ceremony. The selection of this year’s submissions shed light on the growing barriers that exist as obstacles to the greater proliferation of quality heritage conservation and re-use, including budgetary and planning constraints. DLĦ hopes that the ceremony will symbolise the credit due to the multi-disciplinary teams that work collaboratively to deliver the submitted projects.

The XVIII Architectural Heritage Awards ceremony is sponsored by Belair Property. It will be held at the Malta Society of Arts, 219 Republic St, Valletta on Monday 18 November 2024. Winners will be announced to the public thereafter.