Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1505323
NEWS 7 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 9 AUGUST 2023 JAMES DEBONO A new business centre at the former Savoy Hotel in Gżira will blend contemporary architecture with the existing building and fresh visuals show how it will look. Project developer, Exalco Properties, released a new photomontage of the proposed building, showing how it will look like for passersby. The photomontage was demanded by the PA's internal design panel which had specifically requested visuals of how the proposed 'side wing' will ap- pear in the surrounding context. CVC Architecture studio, responsible for the project's design, has also pre- sented a design statement to justify its choice for a "contemporary extension". The extension "is intentionally de- signed to contrast drastically with the original building" while "being set back" in a way that "remains subservient to the historic building" and further en- hance "the original architectural fabric which will be fully restored as part of this project". The Savoy Business centre is being proposed on the site of the former Sa- voy Hotel, a historic building which has landmark status at the top of Triq d'Ar- gens at the gateway to Sliema approach- ing from Gzira. For the architects the historic building and its front garden offer an opportu- nity to re-invent the building within today's context "of a dense urban and traffic congested environment" with the creation of a new business centre. The architects believe it offers an opportu- nity for urban regeneration. The project as proposed also includes contemporary receded floors proposed above the historic building. Apart from physically linking the extension to the historic building, the receded floors will screen the unsightly large blank party walls which currently exist. The building was granted Grade 2 pro- tection status by the Planning Authori- ty in 2018. The plans envisage four basement parking levels, a cafeteria on ground floor level and six overlying office floors, including two receded floors on top of the old building and a six-floor extension over an annex building which will be demolished. The plans also envisage the restora- tion of the existing dilapidated Savoy Hotel main building and the demolition of both the derelict 'annex' and the dis- used fuel station within the same site. The project also entails the restoration of a boundary wall and gates and the transformation of the front garden area into a pedestrianised terraced square. The derelict Savoy Hotel had been sold off for a whopping €12.8 million during an auction held in September 2022. The winning bid was made by Almo Properties Limited, which is also owned by the Montanaro family which also owns Exalco. The former Savoy Hotel, with its multi-faceted bay windows, is a landmark building at the top of Rue D'Argens that has been abandoned for years. The area is still known by the name of the former hotel. Savoy hotel extension intentionally designed to contrast with old building Photomontage shows how new business centre will look to the thousands of visitors who travel on Savoy Hill every day