Multimodal Roundabout

The Multimodal Roundabout is a studio-led proposal by Mizzi Studio for the University Roundabout, one of Malta’s most complex and heavily used junctions beside the University of Malta. Conceived as part of the studio’s wider Regenerative Multimodal Mobility Transport System, the project asks how an everyday traffic space can become safer, greener and more civic.

The proposal builds on years of Mizzi Studio research into regenerative transport, from Malta Bus Reborn to the award-winning Tree Canopy Line, an adaptive green multimodal infrastructure concept for Malta. This work evolved into the studio’s wider Regenerative Multimodal Mobility Transport System, recognised with the Kamra tal-Periti Architecture Vision Award 2024. Where Tree Canopy Line explored the route as a living corridor, the Multimodal Roundabout focuses on the knot: the point where movement, pressure and vulnerability meet.

At the heart of the project is a protected cycling and micromobility layer lifted above the heaviest traffic movements. By separating speeds and modes, the design reduces friction while clarifying ground-level circulation for buses, essential vehicles and pedestrians. Each mode is given space to move safely and predictably, allowing cycling, walking, buses and essential vehicles to operate with greater clarity.

Landscape and public realm are woven into the infrastructure. Protective green buffers, planting, shade, seating and softened edges help cool and humanise a junction currently defined by asphalt, heat and urgency. The roundabout becomes a tree-inspired nature hub of connectivity, giving back to people and nature within a space many pass through every day.

Developed through digital twin, photogrammetry, video renderings and VR, the concept allowed the junction to be understood from above, at street level and from the perspective of a cyclist. Publicly unveiled at the Deloitte Forum during A Nation in Gridlock, the University Roundabout was presented as a practical test case for a wider regenerative mobility system.

The Multimodal Roundabout is designed as a intersection for wider connections, with the first intended link towards Valletta. Through research, public engagement and collaboration, the proposal shows how Malta’s everyday infrastructure can support healthier movement, climate resilience and a calmer, more connected island.