New BOV branch with overlying apartments proposed in Santa Venera

A new development, comprising a bank branch, three levels of residential apartments, and four underground garages, is being proposed for a currently vacant corner site in Santa Venera.

The site is located between St Joseph High Street and Triq Abela, which is a cul-de-sac, and the development is being proposed by Bank of Valletta.

Drawings depicting the external elevation of the building are not publicly available since the law exempts banks, airports, and buildings related to national security from the obligation to publish plans and documents that could raise security concerns.

The number of floors being proposed was only disclosed in an impact assessment memo issued by the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage, but the actual plans remain inaccessible to the public.

The conservation group Din l-Art Helwa has called for more transparency regarding this development.

While acknowledging the need to restrict certain documents for security reasons, they argue that plans showing the building’s external elevations within the existing streetscape should not be considered sensitive information and should be made available to the public.

Nevertheless, the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage has access to the plans, which refer to “residential apartments at the first, second, and receded floor levels.” Given the location within the Urban Conservation Area, the Superintendence is urging the avoidance of blank party walls.

They have also welcomed the inclusion of traditional elements in the proposed facade on St Joseph High Street. However, the Superintendence has deemed the repeated use of doorways at ground floor level and closed balconies at the first floor as an unorthodox application of these traditional elements. They suggest that a design more like that of the traditional townhouses in the same area would be more appropriate.

The Superintendence has also cautioned the applicant about the possibility of excavations uncovering underground channels and terracotta pipes that were part of the Wignacourt Aqueduct.

The Santa Venera local council has requested access to review the submitted proposed drawings to allow for a more in-depth assessment and discussion of the application.

The council will present its comments on the proposal in due course but has already expressed concerns about the potential traffic impact, particularly on Triq Abela, given the possible entrances and exits of vehicles from an existing cul-de-sac, which currently results in manouvering issues.

The Bank had previously submitted an application to develop four levels of offices on the same site in 2019, but the application which had a more contemporary design, was later withdrawn. The 840sq.m site where the new bank branch is being proposed consists of a vacant plot where a one-storey structure had been previously demolished following the approval of a residential block, which was never constructed.