Ramla Bay architect says Marfa needs ‘iconic landmark’

Architect Ray Demicoli has justified a planned heart-shaped extension of the Ramla Bay Hotel by referring to the “importance of iconic architecture to provide a permanent attractive landmark at Malta’s northern tip”.  Demicoli has recently been appointed to serve as a member of the Design Advisory Committee, a new panel appointed by government which would advice the Planning Authority on the design impact of new buildings.

The planning application of which Demicoli is an architect, will increase the massing of the existing hotel by replacing 45 apartments with 100 apartments through heart-shaped seven-storey high structures, three restaurants, a nightclub and a bar. The proposal will result in an increase of 240 beds in the resort. 

The Planning Authority’s planning directorate is recommending approval to the major extension of the hotel, despite concerns on the visual impact of the development, especially when viewed from the Comino ferry and the rocky foreshore along Triq il-Marfa. 

The development, which had been exempted from a full Environment Impact Assessment, is restricted to the grounds of the existing hotel but the project’s impact on the landscape was assessed for its visual impact.

The assessment recognised that the project will have a major visual impact, but the architect insisted that the curves of the project integrate well with the “natural context of sea and rocky shore”.

Demicoli also argued that the new design would be preferable to raising the height of the existing two-storey apartment blocks.

Conservationists Din l-Art Helwa had objected to the design of the hotel extension, insisting that while the existing low-lying apartments create a gentle gradient between the hotel and the coastline, the extension would be imposing itself on the coastline as seen from the Gozo ferry.

A screening report prepared by the PA’s Environment Protection Directorate last year had noted that the project will increase the overall massing of the existing hotel. Referring to the photomontages presented by Demicoli, the EPD said the new hotel would result in “significant effects of the proposed project on the larger cultural and natural landscape and visual setting of the area”. 

Due to the proximity to areas of ecological importance the project was also submitted to an “ecological assessment” which concluded that it has no major impacts if adequate measures are taken to avoid dust and debris affecting the marine environment, which includes Posidonia meadows. The assessment also included recommendations on lighting to protect the nearby seabird colonies.

The original proposal was also revised to restrict all development on the already disturbed hotel area and do away with any development on pristine shoreline.

The project does not involve the take up of any virgin ODZ land but increases the massing of the existing development. MEPA had already approved a 102-room extension in 2009.