MJMDA

MJMDA is the working name of Matthew James Mercieca Design Architects, a Maltese practice on Naxxar Road in Birkirkara that has spent more than twenty years designing and delivering buildings. Its idea is called Architecture as One: architecture, interiors, engineering, cost control and delivery are handled by one accountable team, not by a string of separate consultants.

That makes the practice relevant to a wide range of UK readers, from owners of a Maltese villa who want a reliable single point of contact to investors fitting out an office and buyers who need an apartment finished to a high standard. You can compare it with other practices in our architects in Malta directory.

Architecture as One: the integrated approach

The firm's argument is simple. Large projects become complicated when expertise is fragmented, so it keeps design, engineering, cost management and delivery in the same office. Its stated aim is one vision, one team and one point of responsibility, taking a client from the first investment decision to a finished building.

Two service levels follow from this. Integrated Design and Delivery Services, or IDDS, puts the design disciplines and delivery planning under the same roof from the start. IDDS+ adds convenience on top: you sign a single contract with the practice instead of the 25 to 30 separate contracts and orders that a project can otherwise need with contractors and suppliers. The aim is to spare you decision fatigue while you stay at the centre of the key choices.

The practice also encourages clients to look at what a fee buys, not just the amount. When comparing professional firms, it suggests checking which stages and services are included, since an integrated package can cut repeated work and make better use of resources.

Services from feasibility to site supervision

The service list is long. It includes architecture and interior design, building services engineering, structural engineering and project management, plus planning applications, construction contract documentation, project feasibility and consultancy, and documentation to support banking and legal steps. A feasibility study tests what a site can legally and practically accommodate before you commit money, which is especially useful for buyers abroad.

The practice follows the stages of the RIBA Plan of Work, the staged framework published by the Royal Institute of British Architects that many UK readers will recognise. The stages run from compiling a brief and understanding needs, through concept design and presentation, to detailed working drawings and specifications for architecture, structure, building services and finishes. After that come project and site management, procurement and contract management, technical site supervision, and measurement and certification.

Alongside the design work it runs online tools. The Online Profiler is a questionnaire that helps you clarify what you want before you meet. Clients with a contract can also view project documents at any hour and order prints, and contractors can submit their offers online, which makes comparison swifter and clearer.

Projects and awards

The portfolio is divided into homes, offices, restaurants and bars, commercial showrooms, and projects in development. Residential examples include Disquiet A-Side, a villa in Madliena completed in April 2023, Surprise Semi-D in Ibragg, In Rilievo in Għaxaq, Solid Porosity in Sliema and Rapprochement in Ħaż-Żebbuġ, which pairs old and new. The practice has also converted a house of character, an award-winning scheme it has presented in a talk in Valletta.

On the office side, its Limber Lattice project, the Nubis Business Centre in Lija, won the 2019 Premju Emanuele Luigi Galizia Quality Architecture Award from the Chamber of Architects. Other workplaces include the MAPFRE MSV Life head office at The Mall in Floriana, the Smart Cow offices at Balluta Bay, the DigitalLoft offices in St Julian's and Working Woods in Birkirkara. Further commissions include offices in Luqa and a Playmobil office façade at Ħal Far.

Most of these sit in the central, harbour and northern areas that visitors know. Our guides to historic Valletta and the Three Cities harbour towns cover the historic core where the practice has also worked on Bormla, and the Malta weather guide explains why shading, light and outdoor living feature so strongly in Maltese design.

Design ideas behind selected projects

A few projects show how the practice thinks. At Surprise Semi-D in Ibragg, the team studied the daily route into the house and made the basement the preferred entrance. Instead of the dark cellar of the past, it is filled with natural light, so you can leave the outside world behind before climbing through rooms that grow lighter as you rise and look out over the garden from changing angles.

At the MAPFRE MSV Life head office, the layout answers the many departments and backgrounds that pass through the building. Triangulated lines echo the many sides of the business, and the floor is plain polished concrete except in social areas, where a calmer mood is wanted. The Smart Cow offices at Balluta Bay centre on a custom partition that works as a brand backdrop, divides the space, supports acoustics with yellow triangular elements, holds a leaf-shadow light fitting and even provides storage.

The DigitalLoft offices in St Julian's take the square as their theme, turning it into a cube, a hexagon and a circle across furniture, lamps and sound-absorbing materials, with deep blues shading into pale ones to suggest weightlessness. Working Woods, in Birkirkara, treats the office as an ecosystem where good materials and layout support wellbeing and performance. These examples suggest the practice likes custom, multifunctional details, and it is worth asking for similar references from your own sector.

The team and its culture

The practice was founded by Matthew James Mercieca, who is senior architect and chief executive. He holds Maltese degrees in architecture and civil engineering and an MBA, and he tutors design and is a certified Autodesk instructor. The team, nicknamed the Jammers, includes architects, designers, engineers and project managers; named roles include an integrated design services manager, a delivery services manager, design architects, a procurement executive, a civil and structural engineer and a structural engineer.

Student support is part of the culture. Architecture students and others join the office each summer, and the practice has taken part in exchange programmes. If you are interested in joining, the site advises registering interest well ahead, by February in most cases.

How to start a project

The site sets out three steps. First, collect what you can about the property: old plans, photographs and permits, ideally a recent survey showing levels, trees and roads, and a short written brief or a completed Online Profiler. Second, meet for a no-obligation discussion about your requirements and values. Third, the practice assesses your needs and prepares a proposal tailored to your project.

The contact form asks about your property status, whether you have bought, signed a promise of sale or are still searching, and whether it is a villa, apartment, house of character or townhouse. It also asks what you want to do, from building to finish to structural alterations, interiors or a small project, and whether you have drawings. A free consultation call is available. Anyone moving from the UK may find our guide to relocating to Malta useful before filling it in, and where to stay in Malta helps with trip planning.

Visiting Birkirkara and getting in touch

The office is at 125 Naxxar Road in Birkirkara, a busy town in central Malta that is easily reached by road from Valletta, Sliema and the airport. If you want to combine a meeting with sightseeing, see our hotels in Valletta and hotels in Sliema pages, and our list of things to do in Malta.

The practice does not publish fees or opening hours, so mention your preferred dates in your message. Use the VisitMalta.co.uk enquiry form on this page, tell us about your project, and we will pass your message to MJMDA so it can reply to you directly.