Three new floors could be approved on Paceville’s listed townhouses

A proposal to add three floors to a row of nine listed Grade 2 townhouses in Paceville which date back to the 1930s is being favourably recommended by both the case officer and the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage.

The row of scheduled two storey townhouses fronting Triq il-Wilga and Triq Paceville, dates back  from the interwar period and is currently scheduled as a Grade 2 property, a status which normally precludes demolition or significant alterations to the buildings. In this case the townhouses will not be demolished but will have three full storeys constructed on top of them.

The proposed additional floors have been accepted in principle by the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage  in view of the 1m setback of the upper floors.

Since the outline application as presented is meant to establish the parameters for a future full development, the design of the project will only be approved at that later stage, after the PA has committed the site for a five-storey development.

Despite the impact on the cultural heritage no photomontages have been requested at this stage.

The Superintendence normally does not agree with an increase in volumes and heights of scheduled buildings. But in 2021 a spokesperson for the SCH justified approval of the proposal as a way of covering the “unsightly blank walls” on both sides of this row of townhouses.

“In this particular case, the setting of the scheduled houses has been severely prejudiced with modern high development that is creating very unsightly blank walls and overbearing massing which have a detrimental effect on the legibility and appreciation of the scheduled houses themselves.”

Heritage NGO Din l-Art Helwa is strongly objecting to the proposed new storeys, warning that the proposed three floors above the existing volume “will completely transform the site, with the original massing and traditional character being completely obliterated”.

DLH said buildings scheduled at Grade 2 must be protected in their entirety. “Furthermore, additional development can only be permitted if truly minimal and would not detract from the architectural form and massing of the scheduled property,” the NGO said.

Describing the application as completely unacceptable, DLH called on the Planning Authority to ensure “the protection of our island’s limited and increasingly threatened cultural heritage”.

In another objection, environmentalist Claire Bonello described the proposed addition of extra floors on the scheduled buildings as an “insensitive and outdated proposal that set a dangerous precedent, threatening the integrity and protection of all scheduled properties.

But the case officer’s report concluded that the proposed additional floors are acceptable as these do not exceed the existing height of the buildings on both sides, and the additional floors on each townhouse are stepped to follow the street gradient.

Consent granted by owners

The proposal is being made by Priscilla Calleja who declared not fully owning the site but having the consent of the owners to present the application.

Back in 2017 Calleja had requested the addition of two floors to transform her property into a guesthouse, but her application was recommended for refusal following the objection of the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage. In 2018, Planning Authority chairperson Johann Buttigieg proposed an outline application to be instead submitted for the whole stretch of scheduled properties, to determine the building height and external appearance, and avoid piecemeal development.

Buttigieg had noted the outline application will cover an area well beyond the applicant’s property and will act as a masterplan for the whole area.

Now Calleja has applied to add three new floors on all townhouses, declaring she was not the owner of the entire site but that other owners had been informed and granted consent.

A final decision will be taken by the Planning Board on 14 December.