Old flat, new chic

CHRIS BRIFFA redesigned and decorated the interior of this flat in St Ursula Street, Valletta, retaining its original architectural elements and features like the cement tiles, while infusing it with 21st-century chic in a contrasting style.

Chris Briffa describes his client’s brief as a focus on entertainment and celebration, “so we gave the space a formal dining area, large living-room and functional open kitchen”. A table in solid oak, measuring 3.4 metres by 2.3 metres, is set at the centre of the space. It works as a food preparation counter, general work-top, something off which to serve food and eat it, a bar-counter for parties and inside, there’s plenty of storage.

The flat, Chris explains, needed the minimum of structural change because it was a good size and plan to start with. “We created short-span openings to allow strong visual interaction between different rooms, while leaving the original spaces distinct and defined,” he says. “This is the typical enfilade of rooms: entrance hall, dining-room, livingroom and kitchen, one leading onto the other with the bedroom off a corridor. We mixed that in with contemporary idioms like open plan space, diffused lighting and natural finishes.”