Qui-Si-Sana lies unprotected from developers’ hunger

A historical British officers’ mess that is being earmarked for its overshadowing by a 40-storey tower hotel, deserves Grade 2 protection according to a Cultural Heritage study included in an Environment Impact Assessment, which assesses the impacts of the tower hotel.

If the development is approved the Officers’ Mess, the barracks, would be dismantled and some of its facades reconstituted into the lower floors of a high-rise hotel.

Grade 2 scheduling would however preclude the demolition of the barracks.   

But a planning policy allowing unlimited heights on standalone hotels, does not apply to scheduled sites.

The EIA has warned that the approval of the project would mean that the building’s context and mere existence as a freestanding structure “will be forever lost”. 

It adds that the building would have merited the highest form of protection, Grade 1, were it not for alterations carried out in the 1980s when it was incorporated in the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Indeed similar buildings in Pembroke have been granted Grade 1 protection, and such a high level of protection would preclude any development on the site. 

The Sliema local council has already called for the scheduling of the building.

The Tigné Officers’ Mess was built between 1903 and 1905, serving a number of British regiments. In 1915 the building was used as a military hospital. 

While calling for its protection the authors of the EIA refer to the current state of the structure as a “danger to the community” which “is adversely affecting the urban fabric of the area and is leading to further damage being done to the structure itself by natural elements.”

Should the development take place, apart from the usual precautions of monitoring works, a museum/heritage trail of the area, including Fort Tigné and Garden Battery among others, would have to be put into place by the developer. 

Nine other buildings deserve protection

The building boom in the inter-war period, during which the population of Sliema grew by 25%, has left an architectural legacy which risks obliteration due to the failure of the authorities to protect a number of town houses, some of which are earmarked for development.

Since Qui-Si-Sana does not form part of Sliema’s Urban Conservation Area, many of these buildings lack any protection whatsoever.

In the past the Planning Authority scheduled three terraced houses as Grade 2 properties because of their art deco characteristics and state of conservation, but a number of similar properties remain unprotected.

Grade 2 scheduling would allow internal restoration and alterations but would save these buildings from both internal and external demolition.

One of the buildings meriting protection is a block of apartments built in severe Art Deco style typical of the 1930s. Its Italian names, “Maronna”, “Licinia” and “Lavinia”, are considered to reflect historical defiance to the strong British military presence in the area. A wall post box, installed on the façade, has already been scheduled by MEPA as a Grade 2 cultural asset. 

The PA is currently processing an application for the development of a maisonette, 11 apartments, a penthouse and office space to replace a Sliema townhouse in Pace Street.

In October 2015 the Superintendence called for Grade 2 protection for the townhouse and called for refusal of the application if the design was not changed to integrate the facades of the building.

This particular application is still pending. 

Other buildings meriting conservation according to the EIA are a block of apartments at the corner between Triq il-Ponta ta’ Dragut and Triq McIver, a block of apartments in the corner between Triq Sant’Antnin and McIver, a terraced House at Triq Locker, the houses along the eastern side of Triq Sant’Antnin, a two-storey terraced house at Triq Zimmerman Barbaro, a two-storey terraced house at Triq il-Patruna, Sliema, a two-storey wide-fronted terraced house at Triq Pace in the corner with Triq Censu Xerri and a four storey apartment block known as “Ritz Flats” in Triq Hughes Hallett, Sliema.

Although it faces no imminent threat the St Luke’s Garrison Chapel in Triq Censu Xerri, Sliema is still unprotected.

The foundation stone of the chapel was laid in January 1910. It was used by the Anglican Officers and soldiers stationed in Tigne. It has three entrances and a porch at the front. A belfry was added later. The chapel was used until 1979. It was restored after the Tigné barracks were passed on to the Midi Consortium.