hospitality · interiors

valletta guest house.

Guest rooms in an old Valletta house, where oak joinery does the work: arched headboards, raised platforms, bunks and desks fitted between the limestone walls.

all projects

valletta guest house, an arched oak headboard, lined in upholstery · render

client: stl ltd
location: valletta
year: 2025
sector: hospitality · interiors
system: oak joinery walls · arched headboards · raised platforms · limestone
made by: matter make

the project

An old house in Valletta is becoming a small guest house, with rooms over several floors and a pool and a kitchen on the roof. DeMicoli & Associates are the architects. We worked out the insides of the rooms.

Every room is small, and no two are the same. Ceilings run from under two metres at the bottom of the house to over three at the top. The limestone walls stay bare, because they’re the best thing in the place. So the joinery has to do the work. A single oak wall holds the wardrobe, the shelves by the bed and the headboard. In the low rooms the bed sits on a raised oak platform with drawers underneath. Where a room has to sleep more people, the bunks get a curved oak back, so the top one doesn’t feel like a shelf. Desks, tea stations and window seats sit in the thickness of the old walls.

The arches come from the city. Valletta is full of them, in doorways, vaults and stairs. We cut one into the oak behind each bed and lined it with upholstery, so the headboard becomes a small alcove. Where a bathroom has no window, glass block borrows light from the room next door.

We drew every room and every piece of built-in joinery in 3D, from the architects’ model of the house. This one is a design only: we drew it, and the building is someone else’s job. The pictures are renders, not photographs.

valletta guest house, the bed in its alcove · render — the bed in its alcove · render

valletta guest house, a desk beside the arch · render — a desk beside the arch · render

valletta guest house, from above: the bed inside the oak wall · render — from above: the bed inside the oak wall · render

valletta guest house, bunks with a curved oak back · render — bunks with a curved oak back · render

valletta guest house, a corner room · render — a corner room · render

valletta guest house, a bench and a table in the thickness of the wall · render — a bench and a table in the thickness of the wall · render

valletta guest house, a low room under a dark timber ceiling · render — a low room under a dark timber ceiling · render

valletta guest house, a grey headboard against the stone · render — a grey headboard against the stone · render

valletta guest house, headboard, wardrobe and screen in one wall · render — headboard, wardrobe and screen in one wall · render

valletta guest house, a headboard wall with shelves · render — a headboard wall with shelves · render

valletta guest house, a long desk and a raised platform, from above · render — a long desk and a raised platform, from above · render

valletta guest house, a bunk room, from above · render — a bunk room, from above · render

valletta guest house, a room and its shower, from above · render — a room and its shower, from above · render

valletta guest house, light through glass block · render — light through glass block · render

valletta guest house, one floor, cut through · render — one floor, cut through · render

valletta guest house, another floor, cut through · render — another floor, cut through · render

from the lab · this project in

gamut · coloursample this palette ↗Five tones sampled from the photograph above. Sampled, not invented.