Tributes have been paid to award-winning architect Martin Xuereb who died a day short of his 68th birthday on Tuesday.

The founder and senior partner of the architectural firm Martin Xuereb & Associates is renowned for his work on architectural projects across the world, including in Malta, Croatia, Belgium, Hungary, the Bahamas, Poland, Libya, Turkey, Tunisia and Italy.

He is behind a series of landmarks found across Malta and Gozo, including Sliema's Piazzetta and Gozo's Cittadella's recent restoration. 

Back in 2004, Xuereb was awarded the Concorso Metra Sistema D’Autore award for his outstanding achievement in the building industry. He received the award for his design work on the Corinthia Bab Africa "two-tower" hotel and business centre in Tripoli. 

His work was described to be a “remarkable work of art, which portrays a very interesting technical, vari-complex architectural solution”.

Last year, Xuereb firm’s design of the Piazzetta in Sliema won the Public Open Space Award at the 2020 Malta Architecture and Spatial Planning Awards. 

The rehabilitation and restoration of the Cittadella was also selected as one of the finalists in the prestigious European RegioStar Awards in 2018.

The Embassy Valletta Hotel's rooftop pool, another one of Martin's projects, was listed as one of the "30 best rooftop pools in the world" by rooftop guide. 

Popular waterpolo club Neptunes also paid tribute to Xuereb, who back in the 1970s was the club's goalkeeper.