Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/527016
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 14 JUNE 2015 16 News FORT CAMBRIDGE TOWER TOWNSQUARE SLIEMA METROPOLIS FORT CAMBRIDGE APARTMENTS x 16 News FORT CAMBRIDGE TOWER TOWNSQUARE SLIEMA METROPOLIS FORT CAMBRIDGE APARTMENTS PENDERGARDENS EXCHANGE BUILDING 40 38 33 23 22 STOREYS EXCHANGE BUILDING 20 FORT CAMBRIDGE TOWER TOWNSQUARE SLIEMA METROPOLIS FORT CAMBRIDGE APARTMENTS PORTOMASO Malta's giddy high-rise future The island's landscape will be irremediably changed by high-rise developments queuing for approval. Is the economic gain worth the environmental and social cost? asks JAMES DEBONO MALTA already has eight tall buildings of 10 storeys or higher in place, with three more approved but yet to built and seven more awaiting MEPA's green light. Malta's tallest building is the Portomaso tower, approved in the mid-90s, pipping the 14-storey Preluna Hotel in Sliema for the ac- colade of highest building. Seven other towers were ap- proved without any policy regulat- ing tall buildings: the A3 Towers in Paola, two towers at Tigné Point, the Fortina hotel in Tigné and the Intercontinental Hotel in St Ju- lian's. Also approved but yet to be con- structed are the 33-storey Me- tropolis tower in Gzira, the contro- versial 12-storey Mistra Heights, and the 22-storey Pendergardens tower. Since Labour's election in 2013 and the approval of a new high- rise policy, a total of six completely new developments have been pro- posed, while Siema's Townsquare project was increased from 23 to 38 storeys. The problem with tall buildings Tall buildings pose a number of problems. The overshadowing of surround- ing neighbourhoods can be seen from the environmental impact assessment for the Sliema Town- square project, currently limited at 23 floors, which reveals that the project will increase the shadowing on the public open spaces along the Qui-Si-Sana seafront. "The scheme will extend this impact fur- ther over the sea. It will also impact additional areas of the rocky fore- shore at noon insofar as there will no longer be patches of sunshine." Tall buildings can alter the cli- mate around them, not just by casting a shadow that rob neigh- bourhoods of light, but also by in- creasing the force of wind on pe- destrians. When the wind hits a tall building it can be pushed down to- wards the sidewalk where it swirls around and creates wind tunnels. It's called the Venturi Effect or Downwash. Chairs and glasses can be literally blown off tables due to the changes in wind conditions. Wind studies are obligatory in EIAs for high-rise buildings and architectural features like glass canopies can act as windbreakers. But planners in cities like Toronto have observed that despite studies the impact on pedestrians remains substantial. Landscape impact The Prime Minister has ex- pressed himself in favour of high- rise development as an alternative to more vertical development: the higher you get, the less one ex- pands sideways. It was this argu- ment employed by the Nationalist administration when an extra two storeys were allowed in most vil- lage cores just before development zones were extended. High-rise buildings may be ar- chitectural statements in their own right. But Malta is a small country with its own characteristic landscape: its sense of identity is rooted in history. While high-rise development may make sense in a big metropolis such as Paris or London, or in artificial urban city- scapes such as Dubai, the Maltese landscape has grown organically over decades. It makes more sense to compare Malta to Venice or Dubrovnik, than to Dubai or Singapore. Even if limited only to particular designat- ed areas, it is impossible to shield the impact of high-rise develop- ment on long-distance views. A skyscraper in Sliema would dwarf and possibly even humiliate the fortifications of Valletta, impacting the island's sense of identity. Take the Gasan-Tumas plans for high-rise in Mriehel: one major hurdle is its impact on the line of vision between Valletta and Mdi- na. Tigné is within the buffer zone and immediate context of Valletta and a significant change in its char- acter would severely affect that of Valletta itself – "highly threat- ening its World Heritage status", warned a report presented to MEPA by the Rehabilitation Projects Of- fice (RPO), the g o v e r n m e n t office respon- sible for pro- tecting Valletta's UNESCO World Heritage status. Economic benefits From the outset, one must ac- knowledge that there are certain economic arguments in favour of high-rise. Malta is currently mar- keting itself as a financial centre that also attracts a large number of gaming companies. High-rise developments tend to provide clusters of services for those who live and work in them: including childcare centres, food stalls, gyms, malls and open-air plazas. The waiting list itself is believed to be a long one for office space: developer Ray Fenech from the Tumas Group had said that demand was so big that Por- tomaso had an enormous wait- ing list and that no office space is empty. Referring to the gaming industry, whose hunger for office space in M a l t a Malta largely escaped the high-rise boom of the 1950s and 1960s, but the Town Planning Schemes laid down a two- floor maximum height that contributed to the low-lying, compact urban form