Barbajean has been designed to celebrate the joy and tradition of eating and drinking – an activity that unites friends, family and communities and that has been inextricably linked with architecture for centuries. Mizzi Studio’s team embraced the brief for Barbajean as a context driven conversion project, drawing influence from the colours, materials and traditions of its village home. Dingli remains one of Malta’s most beloved belvedere destinations, with uninterrupted sea views over the Mediterranean Sea and the islet of Filfla. The team was keen to create a new destination for the village – a recreational landmark that would celebrate its environment whilst injecting it with new life.

“Ħad-Dingli represents the modest and slow-paced way of life that is so typical of the Mediterranean and Malta specifically,” Jonathan Mizzi, director at Mizzi Studio said, describing the new eatery. “Working within the village’s particular urban fabric was a key inspiration for us. Dingli’s extensive rural buffer also held particular weight – as a studio, we are deeply influenced by nature and how architecture can live in 

harmony with natural surroundings. We envisioned Barbajean as a pitstop or end destination that might weave into long walks within the region’s beautiful landscape. We wanted to create a restaurant that would stand at the core of a quintessential Maltese village experience, one that would give people an opportunity to stop and reflect on beauty of the natural surroundings and nearby cliffs”.

Mizzi Studio approached this project with a desire to inject heritage-driven design solutions into its DNA. The team studied vernacular precedents with a focus on colour, materials and traditional functionality. The design concept for Barbajean took cues from the typical Maltese faċċata or facade – its coloured timber doors; glass antiporta; informal parapet steps; and the mid-century terrazzo architrave tradition were all used as formal inspiration. With its street-corner site, the team identified an opportunity to create a classical, symmetrical statement. A triptych of openings each punctuate an elegant grey-pink rendered façade, stylishly bordered by pale pink terrazzo architraves and surrounding emerald green timber door and window frames.

Barbajean has been shaped from the inside-out as a customised design statement. From light fixtures to signage to furniture, Mizzi Studio has carefully crafted a contemporary bistro vocabulary that is unique to the restaurant’s intended ambiance. The restaurant’s bar space recalls the elegance of European Art-Deco bistros. Three slender, tall repeating arches are lit with striking neon accents and calligraphy and rendered in a speckled, pale pink terrazzo. The arches complement the emerald green of the timber fluted bar body and work in parallel with its custom-made terrazzo countertop. Bespoke brass tubular barstools line up along the length of the bar, with velvet upholstery that complements the green timber fluting.

A long communal seating bench lines the back of the restaurant’s entrance façade, sitting beneath its large window. The long bench is upholstered in a robust green that recalls the Parisian tubing of architect Hector Guimard’s Art Nouveau Metro entrances. The bench is partnered with a series of custom designed and built tables, each having a pink terrazzo top flecked with shards of Guatemala Verde.

Aside from the restaurant’s furniture, the team designed a series of bespoke light fixtures that illuminate, partition and opulently decorate the restaurant’s entire interior space. Along the restaurant’s seating wall, double-bowed brass tubes form the bodies of another series of statement lamps, each implicitly dividing the common seating bench, creating rhythmic visual partitions via their arched rods and spherical lampshades. Mizzi Studio also approached illustrator and designer Ed Dingli to create original artwork that would hang as an exclusive series within the restaurant's interiors capturing the cultural spirit of ħad-Dingli's typical village life, aligning with Mizzi Studio's central design drive to return to heritage as primary inspiration.

“This project gave us an opportunity to create a new and distinctive design language. We wanted to create something that wholly represented this particular place and its identity – its site, its management, and its overall spirit. We are so excited Barbajean’s doors are now open to the public and is fast becoming one of Ħad-Dingli’s regular go-to eating destinations”.

Chef and owner Jean Pierre Dingli states “Jonathan and his team understood the spirit of Barbajean from our earliest discussions. His team's attention to detail, love of materials and deep interest in craftsmanship matched our own distinct vision for a versatile eatery that would celebrate the beloved rituals of dining out. We wanted to create a food destination that provided an elevated experience to diners – a place that would combine the pride of heritage with the excitement of contemporary design. Mizzi Studio completely met that brief." 

Credits:

Stone work – Halman Vella Brass Fabrication – Anvil and Forge Joinery and Upholstery – Construct Furniture Custom Print Artwork – Ed Dingli Branding – Steves and Co

Photograher – Brian Grech