The architect of a new apartment block in Sliema has said he was left with no choice but to build further forward than neighbouring properties to be in line with Planning Authority rules.

Last week, concerns were raised about the development under construction on Triq Gianni Bencini which extends more than a metre out from the two neighbouring properties, forcing the pavement to snake around the front of the development.

When contacted, the architect, Daniel Attard, said PA rules had left him with no choice but to build that far forward.

Echoing developers of a Mellieħa apartment block that hit the headlines last week for taking up the pavement and part of the road, he said that while he was following the rules, other buildings in the street were set too far back.

The head of the Chamber of Architects, Andre Pizzuto, backed Attard, saying architects had no choice but to obey official alignment rules, even if it meant the property looked out of place.

In 2022, Johann Vella applied to demolish a terraced house on the Sliema street and replace it with a six-apartment block, including a penthouse with pool and terrace, equipped with underground parking.

Residents contacted Times of Malta with concerns about the alignment of the property, observing how it jutted out.

Attard said: “People didn’t always follow the official alignment, but we got the alignment plan from the PA and built according to that.” Other properties further up the street also followed the official alignment, he added.

The pavement snakes round the property. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

The neighbouring properties, meanwhile, had followed a “self-inflicted” recess of around 1.2 metres back from the official alignment.

Pressed on the aesthetics, Attard said it was important to view the issue in the context of the country’s “ageing population”.

“There is an elderly woman living there,” he said of one of the neighbouring properties, stressing that when she no longer lived in the house, the site would be redeveloped – like many others.

“Eventually all the buildings will be redeveloped, and all the new properties will eventually meet the official alignment.”

Failure to align to official rules would be “more irregular” than building in line with other recessed properties.

He said many buildings with self-imposed setbacks had flourished in earlier decades before planning regulations were rolled out across the island, calling such properties “very irregular”.

'Architects’ hands tied'

Pizzuto said that in such cases, architects’ hands were tied.

“Even if they [architects] want to do it architecturally right, they can’t. It’s not their fault, this is the predicament of architecture generally; it’s about law, not aesthetics,” he said.

Pizzuto explained the problem dated back to the 1980s, when many alignments and street plans “were done by students on work placements and not by professional planners.”

And the issue was made worse when the plans were later scanned and digitised in the 2000s but not at the resolutions of today’s level of accuracy.

Even the PA “doesn’t commit” to official alignments on its mapserver online service, he said, noting alignments were marked as “indicative” by the authority.

He added that all planning applications were reviewed by the PA 'alignment interpretation section' to check they were in line with official rules.

Pizzuto emphasised that while building heights were set in the context of the surrounding area, rules on alignments – which he said the chamber was against – appeared to have been more of a “desktop exercise” without taking the surroundings into account.

“It’s not a new problem,” he said.