Located on the outskirts of the Xewkija industrial estate, the Gozo Innovation Hub is a unique multi-purpose business centre offering a wide array of services, all aimed at helping new companies set up with ease and then operate successfully.
The Gozo Innovation Hub comprises two buildings, the new Business Centre block and the existing and restored Administration block linked together by means of an existing and restored covered walkway and having a new courtyard between them that can be used for events.
The new facility is housed around a protected modernist building built in the 1950s to a design by renowned Maltese architect Joseph Huntingford. It was formerly the administrative block of the milk factory. The administration building of the old plant has been fully restored retaining not only the existing building structure but also the existing finishes and apertures. It now houses offices, a conference hall, meeting rooms, and ancillary facilities.
The Business Centre block replaces the ex-Malta Dairy Milk Processing Plant which was demolished. The Business Centre block recalls the original rectangular shape of the old factory and preserves its original north-west wall with its original concrete canopies.
The Administration Block is characterised by a streamline design, devoid of any ornamentation, using cantilevered canopies and window hoods only possible by the use of the concrete.
Joseph Huntingford used to insert local characteristics in his modernist designs. In the administration building, he introduced a concave façade inspired by the curved megalithic temple facades of the Maltese islands. He used even common simple materials such as the pseudo rubble wall effect motif on the façade and the use of concrete bricks in creating the brise soleil corridor.
The Business Centre spreads on two floors and has a total area of 9,000 square metres. Each floor comprises a number of open plan business units, ranging in size between 85 square meters up to 270 square meters, with the possibility of interlinking units.
The rectangular shape is perforated by two internal patios and all the external facades are glazed. In order to achieve enough screening from solar radiation, the building is equipped with vertical louvers, which follow the orientation of the sun.
To the north, the louvers are placed at a greater distance from each other in order to achieve a harmonic ornamental purpose, given that this is the main façade of the building.
The north façade leads to another external common and recreational area: a terrace, which roofs the entrance of the underground car park.
The design of the new Business Centre was chosen to be simple but functional, characterised by a pleasant external design but kept simple and in neutral colour in order not to compete with the shapes and the features of the existing and scheduled building. The result shows a harmonious combination between the past, preserved and reborn, and the present, efficient and well integrated.
