Alexia graduated in architecture and civil engineering from the University of Malta in 2007, with a period of study at the University of Kentucky, US. Following the receipt of her perit warrant, she was awarded a scholarship by the Malta Government Scholarship Scheme in 2019 to read for a Masters in Advanced Architectural Design at the University of Edinburgh (UK), which she completed with a design thesis on the value of elderly participation in the inner city harbour of Marseille (FR). Alexia was awarded a second scholarship by the MGSS to read for a PhD in Architecture at the University of Edinburgh (UK), which she successfully defended in 2023. Her PhD research focused 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, and is currently pending patent. In parallel with her PhD research she also gained the certification of Dementia Care Mapper from the University of Bradford (UK). Alexia's lecturing portfolio includes architectural design, contemporary research and realities in architecture, a relatively new strand in European and local architectural education that focuses on enabling and universally accessible environments, particularly supporting the needs of children, persons with a disability, persons with mental health problems, older persons and persons with dementia through design and architecture. She has lectured, sat on design review panels and presented at conferences both locally and overseas in the areas of design for dementia and mental health.
GDM5050 - Environmental Gerontology and Assistive Technologies
Course co-ordinator for M.Arch1 (Architectural Design) Member on Faculty Board Member on Faculty Student Wellbeing Committee Student Mentor
Affiliations: - DiMNH, Design in Mental Health Network, UK - Dementia Friends, UK - ECRED, Edinburgh Centre for Research on the Experience of Dementia, UK
