Sliema - proposed Townsquare tower rises to 34 levels

New plans submitted by Gasan Group foresee a 34-storey tower next to Villa Drago in Sliema - up from 23.

Architect's rendition of Townsquare tower as seen from the Sliema promenade at Ghar id-Dud
Architect's rendition of Townsquare tower as seen from the Sliema promenade at Ghar id-Dud

New plans presented by the Gasan Group foresee a 34-storey tower next to Villa Drago in Sliema, up from the 23-storeys proposed in 2010.

The tower is being proposed alongside three smaller blocks, one of which is nine storeys high.

The plans were presented on August 1, two months after the approval of a new policy which earmarks the Tigné peninsula as one of six sites ideal for over-10 storey buildings along with Gzira, Qawra, Paceville, Marsa and Mriehel.

The Townsquare project, which includes the premises of the former Union Club and the scheduled Villa Drago, which is to be restored, dates back to 2005 when an application was presented to construct a shopping hall, residential units and an underground car park on this site.

A Project Development Statement presented by the Gasan Group in 2007 proposed a 32-storey tower on the site, apart from a public square, pedestrianised areas and a number of smaller blocks.

Three years later the height of the tower was slashed to 23 storeys, but a new tower rising to 15 storeys was also proposed along with the central tower. 

An update to the Environment Planning Statement presented by the developers in 2010 stated that the building heights were changed following discussions with MEPA.

In 2012, a revised environment impact study recommended that people should close their windows to mitigate the noise impact of the development, prompting a reaction by former environment minister Mario de Marco, who described this recommendation as “unreasonable.”

The project has been on the backburner for the past two years.

The studies commissioned by the developers in 2010 after the height of the main tower was slashed to 23 storeys concluded that the project will have a “minor impact” with regard to the shadowing on the neighbourhood.

But the same study acknowledges that the project will increase the shadowing on the public open spaces along the Qui-Si-Sana seafront.

“The scheme will extend this impact further over the sea. It will also impact additional areas of the rocky foreshore at noon insofar as there will no longer be patches of sunshine.”

The EPS update (based on a maximum height of 23 storeys) also assessed the impact on the landscape.

The greatest visual impact was felt from a viewpoint near the Preluna Hotel where the skyline will be broken by the tower as well as by the Fort Cambridge development. The impact on this spot is deemed to be major.

Since the site sits behind the Fort Cambridge and Midi developments, the view from Is-Sur tal-Inglizi in Valletta was deemed to be “minor”.

The development was not visible from Bighi, Vittoriosa and “barely noticeable” from Mdina and from Smart City.

Studies presented by the developers estimate that the project will increase peak flows in Qui-Si-Sana from the present 24,444 to 28,874 vehicles.