Guesthouse set to change another Sliema streetscape

An elegant townhouse set on Victoria Avenue in Sliema may be redeveloped into a multi-storey guesthouse.

Plans submitted to the Planning Authority envision three extra storeys on the town house fronting Triq Gorg Borg Olivier and five new floors on Triq Sir Luigi Camilleri.  

Although the façade will be retained residents fear a change in the streetscape in a particular part of Sliema which is still characterised by two storey buildings, with the exception of a corner development which rises to six floors. 

In fact plans submitted to the PA also refer to potential neighbour development of the same height even if no such applications have been presented yet.

Although designated as part of Sliema’s urban conservation area the local plan approved in 2006 allows five-floor developments in this particular part of Sliema. But the local plan itself states that “additional floors” should not “detract from the architectural homogeneity” of existing buildings. 

Although the façade of the house in Victoria Avenue will be retained residents fear a change in the streetscape which is still characterised by two storey buildings

The Planning Authority had rejected an application to retain the façade and to construct a receded apartment block on an adjacent twin property in 2003. The two townhouses are nearly identical, having been constructed in the same period.

Sliema is currently facing an onslaught of applications seeking to redevelop townhouses located in rows of two-storey developments. 

Another townhouse on Sir Adrian Dingli Street designed by architect Gustavo R. Vincenti is also being proposed for redevelopment with three new storeys and a penthouse being proposed on top of the two storey façade. 

The project, which would retain the façade, is being proposed by Karkanja Developments Limited.

The townhouse is adjacent to an unfinished apartment block on one side and to a row of two storey houses on the other. The PA has recently approved a restoration project on a neighbouring townhouse built in a similar style and described by the case officer as “an eclectic one” influenced by the European Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles and the Scottish William Morris Arts and Crafts Movement.