Hotelier persists with plans to knock down Palazzina Vincenti in St Julian’s

Hotelier Carlo Stivala has re-submitted plans to demolish Palazzina Vincenti in St Julian’s despite an emergency conservation order issued by the Planning Authority last year.

The fresh plans submitted last week still envisage the demolition of the austere modernist building and its replacement with a 14-storey hotel.

Stivala had requested a suspension of the application last year following a decision by the PA to issue an emergency conservation order to protect the iconic modernist building.

The Emergency Conservation Order (ECO) which is valid until December 2022 was issued because the property was considered as “heritage at risk”.

In a statement issued last year, the PA described the building as one of the “best modernist examples on the island”.

During the period covered by the conservation order, the property is regarded as a Grade 1 scheduled property – the PA’s highest level of protection – until a full assessment is made to determine what level of long-term protection it merits.

But following the reactivation of the application instead of presenting new plans which retain the present building, Stivala has simply presented the same plans drafted by architect Robert Musumeci last year.

Developers regularly ask for the suspension of planning applications to buy more time or to change plans following negative feedback from regulators like the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage.

In this case the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage has already concluded that Palazzina Vincenti, which dates back to the late 1940s, merits inclusion in the list of protected buildings.

But the building fronting the St Julian’s promenade risks being replaced by a bland 14-storey, 136-room hotel.

The application foresees an underground car park set on three underground floors for 59 cars and another car park for 23 cars accessible from Triq il-Kbira on its second floor. The proposal also includes two restaurants, offices, a gym and spa, eight meeting rooms and a multifunction hall, an outdoor and indoor pool and a pool bar with two cabanas at roof level.

Reacting to the plans a year ago the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage said the property merits scheduling, so that it may be protected and retained “due to their historical, architectural, social, research, representative, contextual and rarity levels”.

Moreover, the proposed hotel is considered objectionable in view of its adverse visual impact on the nearby urban conservation area of St Julian’s, and in close vicinity of several scheduled properties such as Villa Leoni, Casa Caruana Dingli and Chateau en Mar.

The landmark is a defining part of the St Julian’s streetscape, marking the midpoint between Balluta and the St Julian’s bays.

Palazzina Vincenti was described by Malta’s cultural watchdog as a “well-proportioned modernist residence” that was previously the residence of Gustavo Romeo Vincenti, a prominent architect of the first half of the 20th century.

The property is described as a “pioneering example of modernist architecture that made use of reinforced concrete in a domestic setting” and its design as “one of the best modernist examples in Malta”.

The building is also representative of a period of experimentation with “materials, geometry and styles”, influenced by international architectural movements.

While it is the SCH which makes an assessment of the value of properties proposed for scheduling, it is the Planning Authority’s executive council which has to approve the scheduling.

The request to protect the building was originally made by architect Edward Said in February 2019. The SCH had assessed Said’s report and concluded that the property has such historical and architectural value, that it has “officially commended to the Planning Authority that the property is scheduled, in accordance with Article 58 of the Cultural Heritage Act”.