Many people would have heard of Castello Zammitello, that quaint building with a huge courtyard outside Mgarr where many wedding receptions are held.
But few will have heard there is a Palazzo Zammitello in the heart of Valletta. This is now being turned into a boutique hotel and the Mepa board today approved the application.
Palazzo Zammitello is the corner building on Republic Street corner with South Street, facing the Pjazza Teatru Rjal and, on the other hand, the iconic Wembley Store.
But where everyone knows where Wembley is, few know that the building opposite is Palazzo Zammitello.
It was built, architect Edward Said told the Mepa board, by Giuseppe Zammit, a very high official, the only Maltese to be buried in St John's and a monument to him exists in the Upper Barrakka.
This house almost at the entrance to Valletta was his city home while the Mgarr palace was his summer residence.
It is said the architect was Michele Cachia, one of the Maltese ringleaders in the revolt against the French.
It was built in the Baroque style and was later enlarged. One signal feature which can be seen in old photos or prints, such as the inauguration of the Royal Opera House, was a high Belvedere which towered over surrounding buildings. More about this feature later.
The building was hit in World War II, maybe in the same air raid in which the Opera House was bombed.
In recent years, the building was rather neglected and third parties made many changes especially to the shops in South Street. The internal yard was also occupied by third parties.
Recently, the applicant has been buying back those parts of the building that were in the hands of third parties. Many of the shops have tghus been closed down and also the internal yard has reverted back to the owner.
The application was to change the palazzo into a four-star boutique hotel and has already been approved by MTA.
The problem however lay with the proposed upper storey. Originally, as architect Edwin Mintoff explained to the board, the applicant wanted to create a passageway on the top floor which would have opened access to four other rooms. Without those five additional rooms, the hotel would only have 17 rooms and this would have negatively affected the economic viability of the hotel.
The meeting developed into a confusing medley with no less than three options being considered, confusing many members of the board and requiring continual flipping of diagrams, slides and photomontages.
To try and simplify matters, here is an attempt.
The turret or belvedere is out, although there was an argument to be made its reinstatement would be simply reverting to what existed already. But the Superintendence would not have it.
Then, according to the latest planning rules, the upper storey had to be recessed, to obtain a stepping effect. But the applicant and his architect considered this as tantamount to reducing the hotel.
Besides, they pointed out, the proposed building would still be lower than the nearby building and even more than the BOV building which with its white colour adds a garish look to the mass of buildings.
In Mepa terms, the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage had one preferred option while the Directorate had another. The Directorate recommended Refusal because it cannot go against the SCH advice but the board, with six votes against three chose to ignore the SCH advice and approve the upper floor without any recessed areas, thus giving the applicant the maximum amount of rooms he had asked for.
The Mepa board also approved an extension to the Piazzetta development in Sliema. This was the result of the acquisition of two properties in High Street which will enable the passage into the carpark to be rerouted and made more amenable.
One consequence of this change is that teh small open space in front of the development has been lost and will be only a small 1.2 m opening, a glass floor which will allow light into the basement.