Reintegrating Limestone

Sammanfattning

Through a process-based approach to construction waste in Malta this thesis uses a recently demolished terraced house as a case study to demonstrate how the reuse of its limestone material and excavation within the site can be used in the construction of contemporary housing. Complex ecological, social and political challenges currently being faced in Malta are revealed through this study and exploration of the material of local limestone and is used in the proposal to rekindle a connection with the local building material. The proposal is a multifamily housing block built from the reused stone blocks as load-bearing stone walls, columns, and beams. The stone is thread using steel cables allowing it to work in tension, revealing its fragility but maintaining its presence. The structure then becomes a spatial system that allows for variation and change through time, embracing the changing complexity of every-day life through its flexible interior. On the urban scale, the proposal makes use of a common ground floor with the idea that if the typology is applied to a whole block the series of private gardens becomes a public garden alley that is gradually getting bigger with every development.