Conservationist calls on prime minister to protect White Rocks barracks

Edward Said, a leading architect and conservation expert, has written to the prime minister asking for the historical White Rocks complex to be integrated in the proposed national park.

Said welcomed the government’s decision to designate the White Rocks area as a park but is calling for the protection of the modernist buildings erected in the 1960s.

He urged Robert Abela, the Planning Authority, the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, and other relevant bodies and NGOs to ensure the full protection and restoration of the site’s modernist Officers’ Married Quarters.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Robert Abela announced that White Rocks complex would be turned into a national park.

During his budget reply, Abela announced that the government will be recalling any public calls for development in the area and will instead make sure the land is turned into a national park.

In a letter sent to the prime minister, Said stressed that the historic barracks, built under the supervision of the War Office Works Directorate in the 1960s, remain structurally sound despite years of neglect and could be restored for a variety of purposes, including educational uses.

Heritage NGO Din l-Art Ħelwa, has endorsed the call. Said emphasised that the later structures added when the site was converted into a hotel resort in the 1980s lack historical or architectural value and could be removed.

Said also offered to provide further research and consultation and expressed his willingness to meet with the prime minister and officials involved in the park project to help them understand the cultural and architectural significance of the complex.

The barracks were internationally recognised in the 1960s, appearing twice in Architectural Review, the leading global journal in architecture, which described them as having “simple dignity” and in the way it blends with the surrounding landscape especially when looked at from the seaward side, evoking “taste and quality.”

Photographs from The Architectural Review published in 1965 soon after completion of the White Rocks complex

Designed by leading Maltese and British architects in a modernist style, the complex is widely regarded as a unique example of military architecture that combines functional design with aesthetic value.

Back in 2014, when White Rocks was still being considered for real estate development, Said had already emphasised the site’s significance. Speaking to MaltaToday, he had described the barracks as “Malta’s most important modernist monument” and stressed the need to identify and protect buildings before any development.

At that time, he warned that retaining only one façade or building as a token gesture would be meaningless. He highlighted the barracks’ composition along the slope, now framed by mature Aleppo pines, noting that the surrounding landscape is integral to the site’s value.

While earmarking the rest of the site for tourism development, the White Rocks Development Brief of 1995 had already recognised the architectural value of the complex and encouraged future owners to retain some or all of the buildings.

The White Rocks site has a long history of proposed development. In 1995, a development brief covered 36.9 hectares, restricting major construction largely to the existing holiday complex. Over the years, plans shifted. Under the Fenech Adami administration, an upscale tourism project was considered, while under Lawrence Gonzi a sports village with associated residential development was proposed.

Under the Muscat administration, the site was eyed for a real estate development, with calls for luxury apartments and hotels. None of these projects materialised, leaving the area undeveloped and setting the stage for the decision by Robert Abela to turn the site into a national park.