Tigné Point reveals details of its proposed Clubhouse, including restaurant, foreshore pool deck and health, fitness and leisure centre.

There can be no doubt about it: we live in exciting times. Not only is Malta’s socio-political dimension visibly changing as a result of the forthcoming EU accession, but everywhere you look there are also indications of another, more subtle yet equally inescapable evolution currently in motion: an evolution in taste and lifestyle, as evidenced by an exponential growth in public expectation.

The local health and leisure industry is one area to have grown substantially in recent years. Development projects over the past decade or so, especially in the sphere of tourism, have brought with them a sharp increase in demand for high quality sports and leisure facilities, often as not built into the infrastructure of five star hotels and resorts and aimed primarily at the incoming tourist market.

As a result, not only have the standards on offer locally improved by leaps and bounds, but so too have the expectations of a client-base which is growing increasingly more discerning in its preferences and choices.

If Tigné Point is in any way an exception to this prevailing trend, it is because the project combines all the facilities traditionally associated with top level tourist resorts in what is essentially a residential and commercial centre.

Once complete, Tigné Point will be home to some 500 resident families, as well as numerous businesses, offices and retail outlets laid out in the 46,000 sq m of allotted commercial space. Considering the levels of social commitment expected of the Midi group, it is perhaps unsurprising that the two main apartment phases – Tigné South (sold) and Tigné North (construction phase) – have been designed to converge not just upon a central piazza, but also on an adjacent clubhouse area, complete with restaurant, bar and foreshore pool deck, designed to offer a wide range of leisure and sports facilities.

Strategically built into the south littoral of the Tigné peninsula, the Clubhouse itself is uniquely positioned to take in a wide-angled panorama of the entire Marsamxett harbour, from Fort St Elmo in the north-east to Pieta Creek in the south. Apart from the view (which, spanning 500 years of history and pock-marked with the visible scars of war, needs no introduction) the restaurant also enjoys the ancillary benefit of a typical Maltese south-facing view: it is literally soaked in sunlight from early morning to dusk. It comes as no surprise, then, that the restaurant space has been envisaged to include a large foreshore terrace, spread out over an area of 185 sq m, just 10 m above sea-level – allowing for the provision to extend the covers from 80 to some 150 during the warmer months.

The remaining indoor space is further divided into over 100 sq m of kitchen floor area, and almost 200 sq m of additional storage space. Service access to the pjazza and main residential blocks, provided by means of an underground ring-road, allows for an in-house delivery service.

Apart from a restaurant, the clubhouse will also host an extensive health and leisure centre. On the ground floor, the lounge bar (seating capacity: 50) is level with the lower bastions of Valletta across the harbour, of which it enjoys unhindered views. Additional amenities – including two large multi-purpose fitness halls, a dance studio, sauna changing rooms and showers, as well as an indoor pool and two regulation size squash courts – are distributed over the clubhouse’s three floors.

Meanwhile, benefiting from the same natural advantages as the restaurant terrace (limitless sun and awe-inspiring views) is the foreshore pool deck, which, with its total area of almost 900 sq m, can accommodate up to 200 bathers at any one time. The pool itself, at 430 sq m, is among the largest in its class.

Once the entire project is complete, the Clubhouse and all its facilities will fit into the wider context of a self-contained residential area unique to the island - a complex conceived specifically to cater for the requirements of both resident families and commercial enterprises, including: pedestrianised walkways, underground parking, easy access to all amenities within the confines of the complex itself, as well as full accessibility for the disabled... not to mention the unique combination of commercial, residential and entertainment facilities, all within a single, holistically planned environment barely a stone's throw from Malta's most fashionable and cosmopolitan town centre.