Located in the very center of La Valletta, Malta, the old Is-Suq Tal-Belt market has been restored to new life with a renovation that has relaunched its role in the urban environment. Beyond the architecture itself, the restoration and adaptation of this type of building also involves how it relates to the city and to its citizens.
The Is-Suq Tal-Belte market is an important complex in the urban fabric of La Valletta. Its successful renovation is also the result of a strategy of associating tastings with the purchase of products, and of combining its simple operation as a service structure—a market—with its transformation into a new covered urban square. Thus is has become both a leisure space for social gatherings and a tourist attraction that promotes the cultural identity of Malta. The market is organized on three levels, each of which offers a different type of food and wine experience. One of the main objectives of the structural renovation was to provide a new access to the second basement floor and to create a panoramic terrace. The project aimed to restore the market’s role as a key point in the daily life of La Valletta, while using the building’s original architecture to narrate to visitors its history and transformation into a new community asset.