The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage has appealed a decision by the Planning Authority to approve an application for the demolition of Walmarville, an iconic pink modernist villa in Balzan.
In its appeal to the Environment Planning Review Tribunal, the superintendence is requesting the tribunal to overturn the decision and have the proposal sent back to the Planning Directorate with a request for revised plans that take into consideration the “intrinsic cultural heritage value of the building”.
Signed by superintendent Kurt Farrugia, the appeal argues that Walmarville, or the Diamond House, is an “iconic example of post-war Regional Modernist architecture”.
Its architectural and aesthetic interest make it a part of Maltese cultural heritage as set out in Articles 2 and 3 of the Cultural Heritage Act.
“The building has both an intrinsic cultural heritage value on the basis of its specific architectural and aesthetical qualities as well as a group-based cultural heritage value,” it says.
“It forms part of a significant and legible streetscape still comprised of two-storey houses in a similar style which is currently being studied by the SCH for scheduling.
“The confirmation of the decision taken by the Planning Authority will result in the loss of the building’s specific cultural heritage qualities and will compromise and reduce the cultural heritage group-value of the other significant buildings along the streetscape.”
The SCH also argues that the PA ignored several policies that held it to the protection of cultural heritage and failed to consider that consent from the SCH should have been sought before the development of a cultural heritage property.
Additionally, the superintendence had highlighted the cultural heritage properties of the building to the PA at several points during the processing of the application.
Built in the 1960s, Walmarville has a pink façade and features signature green, diamond-shaped glass panels incorporated in the galvanised steel gates and railings that face Old Railway Street.
Its unusual front has captured the imagination of passers-by and has been the subject of an art print created by local design house Te fit-Tazza.
Approved by the PA in April, an application by DRZ Properties was approved to demolish the building and construct a maisonette and three apartments, including a pool at penthouse level, with a garage and four car spaces at basement level. The application was recommended for approval by the PA case officer.
The application had prompted dozens of representations against the development, including those of heritage NGO Din l-Art Ħelwa, which led an activist campaign to save the house from demolition.