Pedestrianised Sliema Bisazza street to be enclosed by 16-floor hotel

A proposed 16-storey hotel inside a Sliema alleyway could block off the remaining access to sunlight on Bisazza Street, enclosing the street with a new building mass.

The hotel in the Zimmermann Barbarbo alley will block the sky view of the popular shopping area in the pedestrianised Bisazza Street, photomontages presented by the developer confirm.

Yet there will be very minimal impact on long distance views from Manoel Island and the Strand, in an area already dominated by high buildings. No photomontages have been presented showing the impact of the proposed hotel on the alley itself.

The PA’s design advisory committee had already expressed concern on the scale of the project, foreseeing “considerable impacts on medium-distance views and at close range” due to highly visible, blank party walls. The committee also pointed out that the proposal was “out of scale with its surroundings.”

So far no wind and shadowing studies on the impact of the area’s micro-climate have been requested by the Planning Authority.

The hotel, proposed by Dale Spiteri, will comprise 178 rooms on the corner site of Bisazza Street and the 2.4m-wide Zimmermann Barbaro alley. Apart from traditional guest rooms another hotel will consist of self-catering units.

The building will become Bisazza Street’s highest construction, dwaring an adjacent townhouse on Zimmermann Barbaro street. The hotel will have an indoor pool, gymnasium, underground spa, two restaurants, outside catering area, and a roof-level pool.  The hotel will encroach on an undeveloped green area behind the existing buildings, which forms part of a more extensive garden.

There is no parking area given that the site’s frontage, on Zimmermann Barbaro Street, is a pedestrianised area. The Bisazza Street frontage at ground level is already owned by other third parties.

The applicants submitted a traffic study to claim hotel management will make guests aware of lack of parking to promote alternative transport modes like bike-sharing schemes, public transport, the ferry, scooters, taxis and mini vans.

Delivery vehicles will use Bisazza Street during restricted hours when allowed, with the traffic study claiming vehicles should also be able to pass through the narrow Zimmerman Barbaro alley. The alley is connected by a staircase to Bisazza Street.