Professional Documents
Culture Documents
DESIGN GUIDELINES
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Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND
1.2 OBJECTIVES
2. SITE GUIDELINES
3.1 SITE LAYOUT AND BUILDING ORIENTATION
3.2 EXTERNAL AREAS
3.3 BOUNDARY FENCING
4. BUILT FORM
5.1 BUILDING CHARACTER AND DETAIL
5.2 HEIGHT LIMITATION
5.3 MATERIAL FINISHES AND COLOUR
5.4 FENESTRATION
5.4 PLANT AND EQUIPMENT
5.5 OUTBUILDINGS AND OTHER STRUCTURES
5.5 SIGNAGE
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1.
I NTRODUCTION
1.1
BACKGROUND
The Ta Qali Arts & Crafts Village is located on a relatively flat area below the hills of
Mtarfa and is approximately 110metres above mean sea level. At present, the site is
occupied by a number of single storey structures and Nissen huts.
1.2
OBJECTIVES:
The Ta Qali design guidelines provide an easy reference manual aimed at ensuring a
standard of development throughout and to contribute to the creation of a pleasant
working environment and a tourist attraction. The guidelines have been prepared to
guide the orderly redevelopment of the Arts & Crafts village at Ta Qali.
The key objectives addressed by the design guidelines are as follows:
To avoid unsightly and poorly planned development and enhance and protect the
investment of all owners within the TaQali Arts & Crafts Village.
2.
SITE GUIDELINES
2.1
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2.2
EXTERNAL AREAS
External areas shall be designed to comply with the following:
2.3
BOUNDARY FENCING
Boundary fencing is strictly prohibited at Ta Qali Arts & Crafts Village. Security is to
be provided by other means without compromising the visual aesthetics and overall
character of the development.
LANDSCAPING
3.2
All plant species must be selected and planted in accordance with the
Guidelines on trees, shrubs and plants for planting and landscaping in the
Maltese islands issued by MEPA.
Tenants are required to vegetate and maintain the full extent of their plot.
All landscaping and planting shall be undertaken by a qualified contractor.
Further to the passive site layout and building orientation guidelines outlined in section
3.1 the following building design initiatives will aid the conservation of non-renewable
energy and improve employee comfort by assisting the penetration of natural light and
ventilation.
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The following building treatments are optional initiatives designed to assist natural light
penetration and building ventilation. Developers will not be bound to, nor should be
limited to, the following design treatments, however they will need to demonstrate the
buildings ability to capture natural light and allow cross ventilation.
Natural light
Roof lights
To introduce UV filtered sunlight into the centre of the building (consideration
should be given to minimising solar gain by careful selection of the translucent roof
light material).
Ventilation
Side wall ventilation openings
To encourage cross-ventilation through the building
Wind powered ventilation turbines
To aid the relief of hot air at high level and to encourage cooler air to enter at low
level in the building, thereby generating a chimney stack effect for air circulation.
Roof vents active or passive
large relief vents to further increase upward air flow in the building.
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4.
BUILT FORM
4.1
Building elevations on corner lots must address both street frontages with
a high standard of architectural design;
Where more than one building is planned for a site, their design must
result in the creation of a group of integrated buildings presenting a
harmonious image;
Only one garage door opening is to be allowed on the main front elevation
the design of which is to be chosen from the schedule in Annex B.
No structures will be permitted at roof level except a lift well which shall be
incorporated within the permitted building envelope and shall form an
integral part of the design. A stairwell will be permitted only if the highest
part of the stairwell structure above the buildings roof shall not exceed
1.5m from finished roof level. This shall be set back at least 1.8m from the
faade and shall be used for maintenance only.
4.2
HEIGHT LIMITATION
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consideration the bearing capacity of the ground and its cost vis--vis the space
standards it was established that height limit for each plot shall be 7.0m measured from
highest road level. The individual units shall be stepped according to the typography of
the site as set out in MEPA DC 2007- Building Height on Sites with a Sloping Street
Frontage. This will also serve to contribute to creating an interesting and varied
streetscape and avoid overshadowing of the streets within the TaQali Crafts Village.
4.3
The aim should be to divide up the facades into contrasting smaller areas by introducing
colours in fenestration, forms and a varied choice of apertures from the attached
schedule in Annex B.
4.4
Fuq il-fil stonework is to be adopted as the material for the facades. This
should be done neatly using a first class finish.
Division of the faade into top, middle and bottom elements using fascias
around building as well
Projecting features such as canopies, sun shading, overhanging roof etc.
to create shadows on the facades.
Developers will be able to choose from amoung the colours of Blue,
Green, Red and Yellow as a colour scheme for the apertures.
The colour scheme adopted for the apertures should be the same for all
the aperture in that particular unit and if possible varied from the
neighboring unit to create a varied streetscape.
FENESTRATION
Fenestration has an important role to play in the appearance and continuity of the
streetscape and its response to the local context.
Consideration should therefore be given to the size and amount of window coverage in
a building. Typically, there shall be a more solid wall than window opening to maintain
an appropriate character for a crafts village.
Windows are to be set back in their frames rather than positioned directly flush with the
building faade. This improves both the weathering and the appearance of the faade.
Window reveals should be a minimum of 140mm for single skin walls and 200mm for
double skin walls in all new buildings and where windows are replaced in the existing
building. Mirrored or deeply coloured glazing is not permitted.
Developers will be able to choose from the apertures in the schedule attached in Annex
B as options for the apertures.
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Any doors and windows, the lower edge of which is less than 2m above road level shall
not open outwards onto a public pavement or road.
4.5
All plant and equipment should be screened or remote from public areas, particularly
from the street. These shall be located within the allowable building envelope and shall
be integrated within the design of the building. At roof level above the allowable
building envelope only photovoltaic panels shall be allowed. These will be setback 2m
from the edges of the roof of the building. The exception to this may be where stacks or
duct work that are necessary for the building function are carefully considered and
become feature design elements of the building.
COMBINING FEATURES
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4.6
Where there are numerous separate buildings on the site, the design of each should
be considered with the whole of site planning so that they may present as an
integrated development; where possible, future expansion and staging should be
considered so as to integrate these buildings. The use of colours, form and materials
should be complimentary and consistent.
4.7
SIGNAGE
All signs shall be designed as an integral part of the building fabric, and
shall be of a standard equal to and consistent with the building design and detail;
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5.0
a. ENDORSEMENT BY MIP
Have the drawings been endorsed by MIP Ltd?
b. BUILDING ORIENTATION
Has the orientation of the building been taken into consideration?
c. BUILDING HEIGHT
Is the height limitation respected?
d. BUILDING FORM
Are the mass and scale of the building appropriate for the location?
f. LANDSCAPING
Is the landscaping integrated with the layout?
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ANNEX A
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ANNEX B
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15 | P a g e
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