Dr. Alexia Mercieca

ABOUT

Alexia is an architect by profession and holds a Masters in Advanced Architectural Design and PhD in Architecture from the University of Edinburgh. Her PhD research focuses on the impact of dementia care environments and their immediate outdoor settings on the perceived daily life experiences of people with dementia. This research led to the establishment of a novel methodology in assessing the wellbeing of residents with dementia developed from care environment fieldwork across three continents. Alexia is a lecturer and researcher at the Department of Architecture and Urban Design, Faculty for the Built Environment, University of Malta. Her lecturing portfolio includes architectural design, contemporary research and Realities in Architecture, a relatively new strand in European and local architectural education with focuses on enabling and inclusive environments, particularly targeting children, persons with a disability, persons with mental health problems, older persons and persons with dementia. She has lectured, presented at conferences and sat on design review panels both locally and overseas. Alexia is also a co-founder at Local Office for Architecture, a research-led design practice that aspires to create environments that are equitable, enable individual growth and support collective wellbeing, through user-participation and collaboration.

AWARDS OF THE MODERATOR

• PhD in Architecture (University of Edinburgh)
• Lecturer in enabling environments for dementia, mental health, disability and participatory processes
• Awardee Premju Galizia Community Impact Award 2024 (Local Office for Architecture)