The Shoreline’s Commercial Podium fulfilled all the necessary requirements to be awarded with a high-level Silver LEED pre-certification.
Located directly on the seafront overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, The Shoreline is a landmark private project by Shoreline Contracting Limited within Smart City Malta, offering a mix of 370 luxurious one-, two-, three-bedroom apartments, duplexes and penthouses that enjoy spectacular views, as well as a fully-fledged shopping mall. Recently, after fulfilling all the necessary requirements, the Commercial Podium’s design and construction project has been awarded a high-level Silver LEED pre-certification.
This commercial component consists of two levels of outlets and a further three underlying parking levels, covering the full footprint of the project underlying the private plaza and the residential blocks totaling about 25,500sq.m. with an eclectic mix of retail, catering leisure and entertainment.
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is an internationally-recognised green building certification system, providing third-party verification that a building was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. Developed by the US Green Building Council, LEED provides building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.
LEED provides a point system to score green building design and construction. The system is categorised in five basic areas: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources and indoor environmental quality. Buildings are awarded points based on the extent various sustainable strategies are achieved. LEED (US) and BREEAM (UK) are the most popular rating systems of all sustainable assessment methods worldwide.
According to Italy-based LEED sustainibility consultants Greenwich Srl (greenwichsrl.it/), that specialises in services for green-building certifications such as LEED and BREEAM, the pre-certification has been released by Green Business Certification Inc. GBCI administers the LEED certification programme, performing third-party technical reviews and verification of registered projects to determine whether they have met the standards set forth by the LEED rating system. Dedicated technical experts ensure building certification meets the highest levels of quality and integrity.
Ben Muscat, chairman at Shoreline Contracting Limited, said: “Although pre-certification is an optional review pathway, the Silver pre-certification we obtained for our Commercial Podium, with the help of Greenwich’s consultants, demonstrates our commitment to LEED certification, as we market the unique and valuable green features of our project to attract tenants and financiers.
“The Shoreline is certainly not a conventional development. It is designed to be a sustainable, community-focused, environment-friendly and a visual masterpiece of modern Maltese architecture with landscaped open spaces and a variety of community amenities. The combination of a LEED certified development, together with quality attributes such as sound and noise-proofing and other unique features, are resonating across the industry and with potential homeowners and investors as such initiatives express our determination towards reaching green sustainability to offer a unique environment of the future.”
Sales and Marketing manager at Shoreline Contracting Limited, Andrew Gatt, said: “Following the appointment of lighting consultant Franck Franjou from France (franckfranjou.com/) and acoustic consultant Hann Tucker Associates Ltd from the UK (hanntucker.co.uk), our commercial project is also on track towards being a LEED certified development with a professionally designed use of natural and artificial lighting and a noise-proofing system for the residences while providing the largest number of electric charging stations for electric and hybrid vehicles that any Maltese developer has yet invested in.
“Franck Franjou has won a number of accolades for creating bold statements using the power of light and counts as his iconic credits, among others, the lighting work at the new City Entrance in Valletta. Hann Tucker Associates Ltd is one of the world’s leading acoustic consultants and have insulated buildings of all types from retail to education to healthcare, counting everyone from Harrods to Sainsbury’s as their clients. These unique features and attention to detail will undoubtedly result in a fully certified and top quality finish that will make both residents and tenants proud and delighted to be living in an area that denotes a superior and evocative lifestyle.”
Set to be fully completed by 2023, this luxurious project will be creating a unique and sophisticated destination in the area of SmartCity Malta. Both EU and non-EU nationals can purchase property at The Shoreline with the same acquisition rights as Maltese citizens and without the need to obtain an Acquisition of Immovable Property permit. There are no limits on the amount of properties a buyer can purchase and, once acquired, the owners may also lease the properties out.
These apartments enjoy a Special Designated Area Status and fully conform to the parameters of the approved 2008 Masterplan for SmartCity Malta.