Naxxar high-rise will compete with Mosta dome, Superintendence warns

The Superintendence for Cultural Heritage remains gravely concerned at the impact of a 10-storey development in Naxxar on the site of the former trade fair car park, warning that any high development on the Naxxar ridge will “dominate and redefine various views of the island” and visually compete with established landmarks like the Mosta dome.

The Superintendence was reacting to new plans submitted by site owners San Pawl tat-Targa Investments Limited, after ditching previous plans which the Planning Authority board had sent back to the drawing board last November.

The new plans of 1 March consist of two towers, one of eight floors and another of ten, instead of five interconnected blocks forming one big structure as originally proposed.

But in its first reaction to photomontages and plans submitted by the developers, the Superintendence described the plans as “inappropriately massive” at this elevated position, warning these will be “conspicuously visible from significant viewpoints such as Mdina, competing even with large-scale significant monuments such as the Mosta Dome.”

While noting that the massing of the development “has been relatively improved” in relation to the previous application, the Superintendence expressed “grave concern in regard to the height and volumes of the proposed structures”, in view of the close proximity to Naxxar’s urban conservation area and the high visibility from vantage points around the island, as evidenced by the photomontages presented by the developers.

“The proposal will permanently and undeniably reconfigure the visual appearance of the most prominent urban centres of the central-north area, proposing a massive solid block which is not taking into consideration the traditional and established Maltese skyline,” the Superintendence said.

It also demanded  photomontages from other significant viewpoints like Victory square, the roundabout area at t’Alla w t’Ommu, the  San Pawl tat-Targa chapel, the Birguma Area and from St Paul’s Street, by the former GO plc offices.

The latest plans foresee the excavation of three basement levels including 58 garages and 305 parking spaces, a gym and spa with indoor pool, two restuarants, one bar, a childcare centre, 10 shops and 136 residential units over nine floors. Unlike the previous proposal, the development does not include a supermarket and offices.

The developers still make use of the “floor area ratio” mechanism, through which building heights higher than those envisaged in the local plan, can be permitted if half the area is retained as open space.

The details of the new application, which was presented in March have only been published in the past days, after the plans were discussed in a Naxxar council meeting last week.

The project is directly developed by San Pawl Tat-Targa Investments Limited which owns the Ġwejda site. The company have appointed Edwin Mintoff & Associates as its new architect, and is owned by Virtu Properties Limited and Ziz Limited.