Parliament Building

Valletta’s Parliament Building stands beside City Gate, where Republic Street enters the capital. Designed by Renzo Piano and opened in 2015, it brings contemporary architecture into the city’s historic centre. Gozitan limestone covers its two large sections, which rise above slender supports and leave an open public space below. The building sits near Triton Fountain, Saint James Cavalier and the Royal Opera House ruins, so it fits naturally into a walk around Valletta’s entrance. Pause to look at how its pale stone contrasts with the older streets around it.

A new parliament for Valletta

The Parliament Building was constructed between 2011 and 2015 as part of the City Gate project. That wider work also included a new entrance to Valletta and the conversion of the Royal Opera House ruins into an open-air theatre. The building opened on 4 May 2015.

Before the purpose-built parliament opened, Maltese parliamentarians met in Valletta’s Grandmaster’s Palace. The Tapestry Chamber was used from 1921 to 1976; the palace armoury then became the meeting place until 2015.

Stone, steel and an open ground level

Renzo Piano’s design uses Gozitan limestone across two substantial sections, set above narrow supports. The raised form leaves an open area beneath the building and gives the stone volumes a lighter appearance. Its contemporary lines are a clear change from Valletta’s Baroque surroundings, and opinions on that contrast have differed.

The building occupies a site that once held houses and, later, Valletta’s railway station. After wartime bombing, the station and nearby buildings were demolished in the 1960s during redevelopment of the city entrance. Today, Parliament stands beside Saint James Cavalier and the Royal Opera House ruins, opposite the City Gate Shopping Arcade and Palazzo Ferreria.