Sixty years ago, two brothers living at the Ballut area near Golden Bay got together to produce tiles for homes.

It was a small outfit, with just one worker. They were among the many other Maltese tile manufacturers turning out tiles by hand. That lone worker is still alive and his sons and grandsons were later on employed by the company too.

That was the beginning of the Halmann Vella group, which, in its imposing marble-encased showroom on the outskirts of Mosta, is celebrating its 60th anniversary these days.

After that small beginning in 1954, the company started to import and manufacture terrazzo tiles in the 1960s. Then, in the 1980s, it started to import marble and other tiles.

At around its 50th anniversary, the family company demerged into two groups and the Halmann Vella group concentrated on marble and terrazzo furnishings. In 2004, the Halmann Vella group focused on its core business and on manufacturing and in 2008, it inaugurated its imposing showroom, which was designed by an employee who studied art and design in Faenza, Italy.

As from the 1980s, the group began to export and was commissioned to carry out work abroad. Among the places in which its products may be seen are the Corinthia BAB Africa Hotel in Tripoli, the London Underground and the Paris Metro, while in Malta, it has been commissioned for most of the main hotels.

It has worked at the Hilton Malta Hotel, the Phoenicia Hotel, the SmartCity Malta project and in countless private residences. But the work which has now become the group’s main boast is its work for the new City Gate Project in Valletta.

It has been a very tough and demanding job, through which the group has learned a lot and which also troubled world-famous architect Renzo Piano, who was compelled to change his plans upon learning more about the quality of Maltese hardstone - Gebla tal-qawwi.

Originally, Architect Piano had wanted to use huge chunks of Maltese stone for the Parliament Building and City Gate. Originally, too, many used to think of hardstone as being ideal to use as aggregate in road -building once it is crushed.

After much experimentation, Architect Piano accepted to change his original plan involving huge blocks of stone for City Gate. Instead, the group began to cut hardstone using a new technique and ferried the blocks over to Malta. People may have seen huge carriers coming down from Gozo on many mornings carrying the big blocks on them.

They have been used for City Gate's paving  and facade (the crenellated facade of the Parliament itself is from the same quarry in Qala, Gozo but its finishing is done by another firm). It is significant that the new Parliament of Malta will be encased in Maltese stone, rather than in something else from some other country. Renzo Piano is certainly very proud of this.

By way of the experience gathered on this job, the group has recently completed the restoration of the House of Four Winds for the Bank of Valletta chairman’s office, in Valletta, which has now been finished in Maltese hardstone.

The group has today expanded into - among other things - the hospitality industry and owns and runs two hotels in Bugibba, together with a newly refurbished bistro named Lovage.  Another sector into which the group has diversified is retail.

The group has taken on the international Guess franchise and has opened three stores – at Bay Street, Tigné Point and recently at the Sliema Ferries.

In its next venture, the Halmann Vella group is to open a Brooks Brothers outlet instead of the revered ex-Ascot House outlet, next to the equally iconic Cafe Cordina in Valletta.

This is the first time Brooks Brothers are in Malta. Founded in 1818, Brooks Brothers signifies the top end of men’s fashion. It is said that 38 of the 44 American Presidents wore suits by Brooks Brothers.

The group is also about to undertake a huge task; that of reorganising the processes at its huge 25,000sqm site at the back of the showroom, aimed at the optimisation of space and processes.

For the entire group’s future focus, it still looks upon itself as a family concern with family values. Most of its employees are related to the original family. The group recently took over the small Galea Tiles manufacturing company in Hamrun, together with its two employees and has relocated them in its main site, where they still turn out the original hand-made Maltese tiles using the same process they have used for decades.

Finally, the group is also active in the construction and development sectors. Its most recent developments include the construction of villas and apartment blocks at Madliena and Xemxija.