MEPA not involved in selection of Gozo marina site

An international architectural firm which published plans for a new yacht marina and cruise terminal development in Gozo on Thursday, has admitted it made a mistake.

Chapman Taylor in Milan was chosen to design a mixed-use project set inside the former limestone quarry in Qala.

Fourteen entries were shortlisted in the international competition to design a 220,000m² mixed-use project, which will be built within a former limestone quarry known as tas-Simar. The competition was launched by Kalamarine Development Consortium, the sole bidder for the Gozo cruise liner terminal.

But the consortium has not been officially chosen to develop the marina.

A spokesperson for the Malta Environment and Planning Authority told MaltaToday that the authority had nothing to do with the selection of the Simar quarry site featured in the Chapman Taylor designs.

On Friday, the Times reported that the company behind the designs admitted that its announcement was a big mistake, pointing out that the internal information was erroneously divulged. The company also insisted that the adjudication process had not been completed.

In total six companies collected tender documents but only one bid was submitted, that of Kalamarine Development Consortium, which organised a design competition.  

A large area, including Qala and Ghanjsielem, had been identified by the Labour administration for the development of a yacht marina. The area in question includes quarries which are still in operation, some of which are facing enforcement notices.

The concept proposed by Chapman Taylor comprises of a new cruise terminal building and contemporary yacht marina, residential apartments, villas, luxury hotel and retail and leisure facilities all with panoramic views of the ocean.

“Chapman Taylor’s Milan team meticulously designed the new development to blend into the Mediterranean landscape, carefully manipulating the roughness of the coastline overhanging the site. The land was previously occupied by an old quarry, which meant a complex and challenging task for the architects to deliver a contemporary design that still retains the delicate and harsh beauty of the surroundings,” the company said.

The new marina will be excavated and settled in a limestone cove eroded by both nature and man, the apartments will emerge from the cliffs and their facades built from the same rock, the villas within their terraced green gardens will cascade down to the sea following the natural slope of the headland.

Essentially, the rock itself has enforced the architecture and acts as the most important construction material that the buildings are merged into.