A proposed 40-storey tower in Paceville will cast shadows on Swieqi residential areas between March and September, a new study has found.

The proposal is on Triq Elia Zammit, Paceville, and will make use of FAR policy for tall buildings.

The impact assessment report, by @econsulting, updates previous assessments into two development applications linked to the project that had been approved. Since then the developer applied to raise the height of the tower from 33 storeys to 40, which triggered a new assessment. The planned building in question, which previously many said had a cheese grater design, now has a more conventional proposed aesthetic.

The proposed project will include 4 basement levels comprising of car parking and storage. The tower will consist of residential apartments, a hotel, including pool areas, restaurants, event halls and a rooftop bar. It will also include offices and retail space and an open piazza with hard and soft landscaping, according to the planning application.

The impact assessment reads that according to shading simulations, "Swieqi residential areas are affected from March to September, at most from dawn until 10am. This area is not affected in December."

"Residential areas in Paceville, accessed from Triq Lourdes are affected between 9am to noon in March and September, and between dawn to 11am in December. This area is not affected in June."

It reads that given the tapering form of the tower, the shadow tends to be transient, with the location of the shadow changing from hour to hour, particularly in those areas most distant from the site of the proposed tower. "As with all buildings, shadows tend to persist in those areas around the base of the tower, generally in the immediate vicinity."

It said that the significance of the impact for Swieqi residential areas is low given the limited temporal duration, and is also low for residential areas in Paceville, accessed from Triq Lourdes,

In terms of the view of the tower, the document notes a change in the extent of visibility, saying that the increase in the proposed tower height has resulted in the upper few floors of the proposed tower being visible from Ghaxqet L-Ghajn (Top of the World) in Gharghur, and the viewpoint from the belvedere in Triq Rinella, Kalkara, where the towers in the Sliema are visible. On the latter viewpoint, the document reads that it is an additional detail on the Valletta skyline as seen from Kalkara, "where the massing of the dB development is far more dominant."