PA approves 31-storey tower on Fort Cambridge barracks

The Planning Authority has approved a 31-storey hotel on the 19th century Fort Cambridge barracks in Tigne Sliema before even considering a request presented by NGOs and the Sliema local council eight years ago for the building to be added to the list of scheduled buildings.

8 members voted in favour of the development, with only one board member namely Romano Cassar voting against it due to the major visual impact of the project, the absence of a social impact assessment, and the loss of the historical fabric of the building.

The development is being proposed by GAP Ltd, which in 2007 was selected to develop Tigné’s Fort Cambridge area according to the specifications of a development brief which actually limits development on the Fort Cambridge barracks to the existing 4 floors.  

The PA’s approval is expected to result in a considerable appreciation of land value from the original 99-year lease of €54 million.

The tower hotel will be erected on top of the historic barracks which according to an Environment Impact Assessment merits protection as a Grade 2 protected building.

More than 450 people had objected to the project.

Veteran broadcaster and historian Dr. Charles Xuereb who attended the meeting as a resident in Locker Street in Tigne, expressed his frustration at the way residents were completely ignored in the planning process.

“The shadowing effect of this building which will be the highest in the area will have a nightmarish effect on residents robbing them of the little remaining sunlight they have today”.  

He noted that an approved 11-storey hotel had already robbed residents of sunshine, especially in the Winter months.

“Can we just imagine the impact of a 31-storey hotel?”

As a historian, he also objected to the “bastardisation” of the building by adding a high rise on top of the barracks.

Romano Cassar who represents NGOs on the board asked whether a social impact assessment was prepared.  The Planning Directorate replied that this is not a requirement for hotel projects.

“How can we consider a 100-meter building without considering the social impact?” Cassar asked.

Artistic impression of the 31 storey high rise on top of the restored British era barracks

Artistic impression of hotel atrium which will include a reconstruction of the original courtyard

Architect Tara Cassar from Din l-Art Helwa recalled that 8 years ago the Sliema Council and NGOs had requested the scheduling of the building.

“We cannot understand why this request was not even considered before this decision is taken.”

She also highlighted the fact that the development brief regulating development in the area imposes a four-storey building height limitation in the area of barracks.

“This application goes against the development brief and therefore should be rejected.”

One of the project’s architects pointed out that only 26% of the original fabric of the barracks was retained over time.  He also referred to the clearance of the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage for the development.

“The interior building was practically gutted when the hotel was developed in the 1980s.”

He also highlighted the changes from original plans for a 135 meter high 40-storey hotel proposed in 2016 to the latest plans for a 31-storey 96.5 meter building which is in line with the height of the neighbouring Townsquare project which was approved in 2019, but still has to be built.

He also referred to plans to retain most of the façade of the 19th-century building and integrate it into the high-rise hotel. The project also foresees extensive restoration works and the recreation of the original courtyard of the building which will serve as the atrium of the new hotel

In a presentation, EIA coordinator Paul Gauci acknowledged that the project will have a significant shadowing impact in the Winter months while effects on wind conditions can be mitigated through landscaping.  

The Fort Cambridge officers’ mess was built between 1903 and 1905. The conversion of the barracks into a hotel in the 1980s resulted in the removal of the main porch on the north façade, and the conversion of existing rooms into double bedrooms. But most of the building’s external fabric remains intact.

The PA’s own Fort Cambridge Development Brief, approved in January 2006, described the barracks as a “landmark building” to be retained due to its historical and architectural importance, serving as a buffer between new, higher development and the surrounding residential blocks. “No additional floors over the third floor will be allowed over this landmark building,” the brief concluded.