Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1526771
8 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 18 SEPTEMBER 2024 NEWS JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt A five-storey development threatens a row of uni- form two storey townhouses in Pietà near the Our Lady of Fatima parish church. The church and its extensive gardens are current- ly listed as a Grade One building and the proposed block of flats is just 10m away. The site of the development is currently occupied by three terraced houses, two of which form a pair of buildings constructed in the same style, while the other is in the same style as an adjacent build- ing that does not form part of this application. The original plans which proposed the complete demolition of the building have been revised over the past months to retain or reconstruct some of the features characterising the present building. Reacting to the latest proposal, heritage activist and architect Edward Said expressed his disap- pointment at the applicant's insistence on devel- oping the three mid 20th century townhouses right across from the parish church. Writing to the Planning Authority on behalf of residents and the Guardamangia parish church, Said strongly appealed to the authorities to refuse the development and limit any development to the restoration of these houses, "as others have done in the immediate vicinity". While plans clearly indicate a five-storey devel- opment in a street still characterised by two storey houses, photomontages presented by the applicant suggest that the two top receded floors will not be completely visible from Triq Santa Monika. Yet even these photomontages, which Said de- scribes as misleading, indicate that a blank party wall will be created on a neighbouring townhouse (not part of the proposed development) which is built in the same architectural style as the existing building. Said described the buildings earmarked for dem- olition as a fine specimen of mid-century Mal- tese domestic architecture, particularly one of the houses which is a twin of a neighbouring property built in a fine Art Deco design reminiscent of ar- chitect's Gustavo Romeo Vincenti's style. The site lies opposite two modernist villas of ar- chitectural value on Triq Santa Monika known as Villa Gauci and The Orange Grove and forms part of a significant streetscape largely characterised by terraced houses dating to the early twentieth cen- tury. In its submission on previous plans the Superin- tendence for Cultural Heritage had noted not while the internal demolition may be considered, the fa- cades form part of a cohesive streetscape and are to be retained with "all apertures, fenestration, balco- nies and other finishes." It had also called on the developer to limit the plans to three full floors and one receded floor instead of two as being proposed. Pietà five-storey block threatens row of two-storey townhouses New development is being proposed 10m away from the Our Lady of Fatima Parish Church in Gwardamanga Photomontage showing the existing screetscape (top) and with the proposed development included (above)