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Life in the City
Mark Zammit, general manager of the new Embassy Complex in
Valletta,
talks to Blanche Gatt about a project with a mission
Our capital city of Valletta is a magnificent architectural
treasure, but these last couple of decades have witnessed a
sad abandonment, as people moved out to make way for commerce.
Offices and shops have taken over, and despite the fervent efforts
of many a passionate lover, the city slept the sleep of the
dead at night.
Now a new complex that includes entertainment and eating out
as major elements has just been opened. The site of the Embassy
cinema complex has been rebuilt with the added ambition of reinventing
Valletta as a destination for fun as well as shopping and working.
General manager, Mark Zammit, is excited about the potential
the complex brings to our lately-stirring city; as St James
Cavalier begins slowly to function and attract night-time visitors,
as several restaurants take up the challenge to remain open
through the evening, so does the Embassy Complex enter the arena,
offering six cinema screens, several fast food outlets and a
Blues Bar for weekend night owls.
“I have been project coordinator since May 1999, when the
demolition of the old building commenced,” said Mark as
we sat in the Java Blues Coffee Shop, nibbling an exquisite
chocolate chip cookie and sipping orange juice. As we talked
his mobile phone rang constantly; two days after opening, a
Valletta-wide water cut had derailed all their catering plans,
as the Embassy Complex’s own hygiene regulations dictate
that when there is no water available, no food is served.
Complicated arrangements to have bowsers deliver sufficient
water for 11 storeys of outlets, shops, cinemas and washrooms
kept Mark on his toes throughout our meeting, as customer after
customer had to be turned away with a polite, but dismayed,
gesture to the sign above the till.
Mark Zammit came to the Embassy project through the inside track,
moving from his position as administrator with Big Bon projects,
to this joint initiative of the Big Bon Group and the Gasan
Group of Companies. “It has been an extremely tight schedule
from day one,” commented Mark. “We started work 18
months ago, with the deadline of 3 November for the soft opening
and 11 November for the official launch. We missed the 3rd by
a few days, but we opened on Thursday 9, and kept to our deadline
for the official opening last Saturday.”
The Complex remained open all day on Sunday 12 November, and
Mark claims that over 15,000 people visited the Complex on that
first day. “During the day it was mainly families coming
in,” he added, “but in the evening lots of young people
wandered in after 9.15pm – it was
fantastic to go up to the cinemas and see them actually functioning
at
last, with people sitting in the
seats and enjoying the films that were being screened.”
In fact, out of the six cinemas that the Embassy Complex comprises,
three were operational last weekend, while the remaining three
started operating yesterday evening.
The six screen cinema multi-plex includes stadium seating and
the latest in projection and sound technologies. In all, they
boast just under 900 seats and all are accessible to the disabled.
The retail floors of the complex are light and lively, and already
busy with shoppers and gawpers. As you travel from floor to
floor via lift, stairs or escalators, the most stunning feature
in the complex, the 11 storey high water cascade is awe-inspiring
in its conception; the soothing sound of running water creating
an enticing yet calming atmosphere that pervades the whole building.
In fact, Mark tells me, 80 per cent of the retail space has
already been allocated, and include outlets for Mottivi, InWear
Matinique, Benetton, Accessorize, Agenda Bookshop, Bargain Holidays,
Harry & Sons, Underground Shoes, Magin Jewellery, BDS, Vodafone,
Go Mobile, Pier Imports, Big Bon, Waipai, Mayoral, Secopal,
Blue Spirit Gioielleria and Jack and Jones.
“This is my first experience of managing a complex,”
said Mark, “and it is proving to be a learning experience
every day. Before the opening we were dealing with the construction
of the building, getting it ready in time, coordinating working
teams from a host of different sectors at one time. There were
some enormous challenges to be overcome during the construction
phase; not least the fact that everything had to pass through
a 16-foot wide road, only one tower crane and one point of access.
During that phase, we had over 400 workers at any one time on
the building, from builders, to machinery and equipment, to
plasterers, tilers and electricians. It was hectic and frenetic,
but the satisfaction of seeing it all come together is undescribable.”
The architect and project engineer who oversaw all the works
is Alfred Grech from medDesign Consultants. “His design
is wonderful,” commented Mark, “and so ingenious too.
For example, the water cascade was conceived as a means of disguising
the blank wall that would have dominated the central well of
the complex; thanks to his design, it is now an extremely beautiful
feature.”
The Embassy Complex offers a host of entertainment and retails
services to customers, but one very important aspect of its
opening is the employment opportunities it has generated. Well
over 100 people have been employed, either directly by the Embassy
Complex, or indirectly through one of the shops or outlets located
within. Besides these full-time workers, around 50 part-time
positions with the cinemas have also become available, making
the Embassy Complex a significant employer by local standards.
“The point about Valletta,” philosophised Mark, “is
that you must adapt yourself to the city; it will never adapt
itself to you. We have described the city as Sleeping Beauty
– because it has been a centre for commerce and entertainment
since the time of the Knights, and only in recent years declined.
In the past you had to walk down Kingsway to meet anyone who
was anyone – then came a lull.
“But the lull is now over. And because here at the Embassy
Complex we have got the fusion of the three synergies that bring
people together, film, food and fashion, we feel that we are
perfectly placed to help attract more people to the capital.”
The Embassy Complex is not the only enterprise with a wider
than commercial vision for the city. Mark pointed out that Rubino
restaurant is also attracting crowds, and is soon to open a
Wine Bar too. Café Jubillee just down the road from the
Embassy is doing a roaring trade, Val Valente is taking over
the Metropolis and the St Michael’s project also got their
permit for works just two weeks ago. “I”ve become
an adopted son of Valletta,” continued Mark, “I have
really come to love the place.”
Will the Embassy be able to attract enough customers to justify
their six million liri investment? “We have set targets,”
he answered, “but I prefer to keep them to myself for the
time being. I don”t want to be too bold, or too subtle.
But we calculate that we should get a generous spill-off from
the 40,000 people who walk through Republic Street each day.
We are aiming at around 20 to 25 per cent of that number. Besides
that, 85 per cent of the tourists who visit Malta come to Valletta,
while the Cruise Liner Terminal processes 300,000 visitors a
year who are based in Valletta for their six-hour stay on the
island. We are very confident of attracting a large percentage
of these visitors into our Complex.”
As these various Valletta enterprises begin functioning, it
can only be of satisfaction to the rest of us to see our capital
city coming to life after dark. If the Embassy Complex manages
to achieve what so many have failed at over the past few years,
it will surely be a feather in their caps.
This project involving multiple cinemas is actually a trip down
memory lane for the Gasan Group, who were previously involved
in two Sliema cinemas, the Alhambra and the Plaza. Ironically,
it was the then Embassy complex that dictated the declining
fortunes of the Sliema cinemas, as the Valletta screens had
the right of first-run and never released films for second run
until they were completely played out.
Now the Gasan Group returns to big screen entertainment –
perhaps their nostalgic return to cinema will prompt a parallel
move for Maltese people back into their capital city.
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