Another application for the construction of a high-rise building in Paceville has been submitted to the Planning Authority.
Construction of tall buildings in the area will continue unabated, it seems, despite the fact that a much-hyped masterplan for the area has never materialised.
The latest application is for a 33-storey tower that, according to the applicant, is “inspired by the simplicity and stateliness of Malta’s Renaissance architecture.”
“This is an exciting moment because after much discussion and a long design process we are now submitting the plans for a project we believe is a smart and sensitive answer to the contemporary challenges of Paceville’s development,” developer Paul Xuereb said.
Apart from the fact that Malta has no Renaissance architecture to speak of, the building is anything but ‘simple’ and simply does not blend in with the surrounding area.
From the artistic impressions provided, the building will stick out like a very sore thumb.
It looks like a giant cheese grater or, from other angles, a NASA rocket launch pad.
The problem here is that, without a master plan, applicants and designers have no guidelines to follow in terms of design, proximity to other tall buildings and height.
A master plan should set out guidelines for all of the above and more. It should, for example, take into consideration not only how Paceville itself will look, but also how the area will look from afar, say, from Mdina.
Over the past months and years, we have seen large buildings sprouting up in certain parts of Malta, including in Mriehel, and their visual element on the country’s landscape has been very significant.
But a master plan would not only be avout visual impacts. Tall buildings in areas like Paceville mean more people and more traffic. In already congested areas like Paceville, the effects would be even more serious. We need to see if the area can handle such projects, if the electricity and drainage infrastructure can cope, and if the surrounding roads can cope with a surge in traffic volume.
The cheese grater is, of course, not the only project proposed for the area. Mercury House is already being built and there are several other projects in the pipeline, including the db Group towers, the proposed development further up the road, at the Corinthia and the proposed construction at Villa Rosa.
What is happening is that the Planning Authority is having to approve applications in a piecemeal manner, without having a ‘guidebook’ in the sense of a masterplan. The consequences of this could be disastrous in the future.
We have been speaking about highrise now for years, and several projects have already been completed. There are plans for tall buildings all around, not just in the harbour area. Yet, despite this new way of constructing buildings, we still lack a proper policy to guide such developments.
We believe that such a masterplan, not only for Paceville, but for tall buildings all around, should be put back on the agenda and completed as soon as possible. Failure to do so will lead to various kinds of problems in the years to come.