The name Farsons is as synonymous with Malta as Guinness is with Ireland. Louis Farrugia’s visionary decision to conduct a European architectural competition has resulted in a stunningly beautiful and brilliant transformation of the 1951 Art Deco Farsons Old Brewhouse buildings.The gardens-courtyards-campus masterplan and architecture has been designed by the internationally renowned architects - ritchie*studio – led by Ian Ritchie, and realised in collaboration with Alex Torpiano’s engineering-focused Maltese practice TBA Periti, and environmental physicist Doug King.

Inspired by Maltese palace gardens and the coloured architectural elements of the island’s vernacular buildings, and designed with respect for the force of the Mediterranean sun, this utt erly contemporary mixed-use commercial architecture is a masterpiece of form, light and shade, sustainability and environmental engineering.

Ian Ritchie leads one of the world’s most thoughtful and influential contemporary architectural practices ritchie*studio, based in London. Ian is a Royal Academician and an elected member of the Akademie der Künste in Berlin. He is Honorary Visiting Professor of Architecture Liverpool University; Fellow of the Society of Façade Engineering and Emeritus Commissioner CABE. He has been adviser to the British Museum, Natural History Museum, The Ove Arup Foundation, the President of Columbia University and the Centre for Urban Science and Progress NYU. He has chaired international juries including RIBA Stirling Prize, Czech Architecture Grand Prix, French government’s 'Nouveaux Jeunes Albums' and the Berlin Art Prize. He is a writer, poet, and his art is held in several international galleries and museums.