Heart-shaped extension for Mellieha’s Ramla Bay

Plans submitted to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority foresee a huge heart-shaped extension to the Ramla Bay Hotel, which is located outside development zones in Marfa.

100 apartments located in a new block consisting of six levels will replace 45 existing apartments which are presently interspersed in nine, separate one- to two-storey buildings located on a landscaped area next to the hotel.

The new project also envisages the take-up of an extra 3,000 square metres of public land for the development of pools and paved sunbathing areas.  

While a substantial part of the land earmarked for the extension is already disturbed or occupied by the existing apartments, a small part of the extension will encroach on the foreshore and on the protected buffer zone for the Ramlet il-Qortin tower.

The plans submitted by architect Ray Demicoli to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority also foresee new indoor and outdoor recreational facilities, catering outlets, an underground car park and service areas.

Holden Limited, a company owned by Tarcisio Galea, is proposing the development.

The Lands Department has been notified about the planning application. According to standard procedure, consent for development on public land is only given by the Lands Department if a MEPA permit is issued.

The existing one- and two-storey apartment blocks are spread over an area of 10,296 square metres and are now set for demolition.  

Instead a heart shaped extension will accommodate 100 apartments in six levels in one block. The new block will have the same height of the existing hotel, which is being retained.

A boomerang shaped “reflective pool” will surround the heart shaped building. 

A 102-room extension of the Ramla Bay Hotel in Marfa was approved by MEPA in 2009.