Blue Pearl

Project idea

The theme of the project is the cliff hut, which involves designing a small hut on a cliff in any location around the world. We have planned our building to be near the world-famous blue grotto, Malta. This is a cave in the southwest of the country Malta. The water is very clear and shimmers sky blue in the sunlight.

The blue whale inspired us. (The phenomenon of the ‘whale falls’ — the sinking carcasses of dead whales provide a bounty of nutrients for countless creatures on the sea floor.) This is a vertical interchange of energy and even a verticalized circulation of life.

Therefore, our design should not only be a private residence, but some kind of localized public mission like a ‘cavity of whale’. This serves as an amphibious bridge between upper and lower cliff areas, which is not only the interlinkage in term of traffic, vision or function, but also a transformation in term of temperature, sound and mood.

Project description

From the sea our Cliff Hut is perceived from afar and from the mainland we only see a floor ceiling that protrudes towards the sea, which acts as a viewing platform for all visitors and opens the view towards the sea. It makes a relationship with the place and the land¬scape, so we consciously reduce the presence of the building so that the place is treated with dignity.

This is where the concept of the design comes in - we stage an architectural composition of dynamic rooms. The revitalization of the place in the form of structural interventions creates an exciting rela¬tionship between inside and outside, above and below, old (cliff) and new (hut). By taking up the different characteristics and conditions of the place and the landscape and interpreting them: alongside play with the height and depth derived from the landscape, we created carefully selected places of retreat and wonderful views.

An elevator, which adorns the rock face from the viewing platform to the footbridge, acts as a link. On the first level there is our sleeping area with a bed and a small changing room. The floor ceiling is free, gives a feeling of floating, we see the lower level like in a gallery.

The view towards the sea gives people a feeling of weightlessness and a feeling of freedom. Our lounge area with a kitchen, toilet and balcony is on the second level. Sunsets, the stars in the sky at night and the view of the sea should enhance the quality during the stay.

On the water level by the jetty, visitors can fish, sunbathe or moor their boat.

Technical information

When we came up with the idea, we were inspired by the body
structure of a blue whale with the hard scales that we use as our
supporting structure (reinforced concrete) and the furrows that we
interpreted as smart glass and are attached to the supporting
structure.