Europa Nostra experts expressed their full support for the preservation of the British Barracks at Fort Chambray, saying they are of "outstanding European architectural, cultural and historical significance".

The experts issued a statement following an urgent mission to Malta last May, prompted by the recent decision of the Maltese authorities to approve the demolition of the site.

The statement concludes that the British Barracks are of outstanding European architectural, cultural and historical significance.

It highlights their evidential value as an exceptionally well-preserved component of Fort Chambray and of Europe's military heritage; their architectural value as a rare example of Anglo-Maltese colonial design; their historical and societal value through their roles in military and civilian healthcare; and their symbolic importance within Gozo's cultural landscape.

Last February, the British Barracks were named one of the 7 Most Endangered heritage sites in Europe for 2026 by Europa Nostra.

The listing is the result of a nomination submitted by Din l-Art Ħelwa, the National Trust for Malta.

The 7 sites were selected by the Board of Europa Nostra from among the shortlisted 14 cases of heritage at risk previously selected by an international Advisory Panel of the 7 Most Endangered Programme.

In April, the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal (EPRT) upheld the two planning permits linked to the controversial redevelopment of Fort Chambray, rejecting two interconnected appeals and confirming that the British Barracks may be dismantled and relocated as part of a wider hotel-led scheme.

The project involves dismantling the British Barracks to incorporate its arcade, facade, and flanks into the new hotel. This necessitates the total demolition of all internal spaces. Heritage groups, including Din l-Art Ħelwa, Wirt Għawdex and Moviment Graffitti, had argued that the barracks are integral to the fort's historical character and should remain in their original position. Their appeals followed concerns that demolition would result in irreversible cultural loss, particularly after the site was listed among Europe's most endangered heritage locations earlier this year. 

The statement issued by Europa Nostra this week warns that the demolition of the British Barracks at Fort Chambray would result in the irreversible loss of a unique heritage asset with no meaningful equivalent elsewhere in the Mediterranean.

The statement follows meetings and consultations held during the mission at Fort Chambray, as well as in Valletta, organised in the framework of the 7 Most Endangered Programme, run by Europa Nostra with the support of the European Investment Bank Institute.

One of the programme's key interventions is an expert mission, during which an international team of specialists visits the site, engages with the relevant stakeholders, and prepares an independent expert assessment to support the safeguarding of the threatened heritage.

The barracks, the statement said, possess high evidential value, of themselves, and as a key element within the planned layout and operational context of Fort Chambray, having incorporated several major developments that shaped Europe and the Mediterranean during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Constructed during the period of British imperial expansion and military modernisation, the barracks formed part of Malta's transformation into a strategic "imperial fortress" following the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. The site reflects wider European processes including the professionalisation of armies, the expansion of permanent military infrastructure, and the growing importance of naval power in an age of imperial rivalry.

 The barracks were part of a broader programme of military reform associated with the UK Barracks Act of 1890, which promoted improved accommodation, sanitation, and welfare for soldiers across the British Empire. The Barracks possess high aesthetic value in that architecturally, the buildings represent a distinctive Anglo-Maltese colonial style, combining British military planning with local Maltese construction techniques and materials.

They therefore illustrate the cultural exchange that characterised many European colonial territories. However, their very visible position made them not only part of the British military apparatus but also a symbol of imperial authority and political control.

The Barracks possess high historical and societal/communal value derived from their successive distinguished roles in military and civilian medical welfare. During the First World War, Fort Chambray contributed to Malta's role as the "Nurse of the Mediterranean", supporting the treatment and recovery of soldiers from campaigns in the eastern Mediterranean. Later, from 1937 to 1956, the barracks served as a civilian isolation hospital, linking the site to the history of public health and infectious disease management.

Taken together, these multiple values further increase the level of overall European architectural, cultural and historical significance of the Barracks, which, when compared to other sites of strategic importance, especially around the Mediterranean, have no meaningful comparator, the statement said.

The risk of loss of, or compromise to, the Barracks through schemes that fail to respect their enduring authentic integrity and associated social Europa Nostra, July 2026 2 history, serve to enhance the multiple significances for Gozo and Europe, because there would be no equivalent survivor to cite to justify the action and thereby argue that the impact would be mitigated, the Europa Nostra experts said.