Vanishing Spinola: Nine-storey apartment block to replace promenade boathouse

The quaint Qaliet neighbourhood at St Julian’s Spinola Bay is facing yet another incursion on its promenade, with one of its oldest boathouses to be replaced by a nine-storey block.

It is one of the last surviving characteristic boathouses fronting the Spinola promenade. If approved, the development would set a precedent for the demolition of the two neighbouring boathouses.

The development involves the demolition of an existing characteristic old townhouse fronting Spinola road, where the development will rise to seven floors.

The development includes a duplex-level restaurant overlooking the bay, a ground-floor garage and one-bedroom apartment, five levels of three-bedroom apartments and a recessed floor apartment.

The plan of the block as seen from behind and from Spinola Road

As proposed, the development will dwarf an adjacent two-storey townhouse and will be even higher than the neighbouring modern apartment block.

The PA’s advisory panel on design issues has not objected to the development but has called for the retention of the existing facades, which are also earmarked for demolition.

Over the past decades Spinola has been completely transformed by developments which have robbed the area of its distinctive character.

The two most iconic landmarks, whose turrets earned them the description of “solitary stately homes” in 1898 survey sheets, are also set to be transformed after the PA approved five additional storeys on top of the buildings, even if their facades will be retained and restored.