A modernist building that a developer wants to demolish has been given another year of protection after the Planning Authority reissued an Emergency Conservation Order (ECO). 

It means Palazzina Vincenti in St Julian’s is still considered to be "heritage at risk" and will be protected from demolition for a year until the PA determines what level of long-term protection it merits. 

“The loss or partial loss of the property will result in the irreversible loss of cultural heritage,” the PA said in the announcement published in the government gazette.

This is the second conservation order issued to protect the seaside property designed and by acclaimed architect Gustavo Romeo Vincenti, who also lived in the building. 

The new order continues to classify the villa as a Grade 1 scheduled property – the PA’s highest level of protection – due to its “historical, architectural, and contextual values.”

In 2021, the PA described the villa as one of the "best modernist examples on the island".

The first order was put in place last year following a public outcry when plans to demolish the site to make way for a 14-storey hotel, theatre and restaurant complex were submitted to the authority in 2021.

Developer Carlo Stivala and architect Robert Musumeci submitted a proposal that consisted of three basement levels of parking spaces, a 136-room hotel, restaurants, a spa and fitness studio, indoor and outdoor pools and ‘gabbanas’ at the top (PA 7761/21).

According to the PA website, the application is still awaiting a decision. 

The St Julian’s local council, heritage NGOs and architects and the ADPD all lodged objections to the plans, citing the 1948 villa’s architectural heritage. 

Architect Edward Said had filed requests with the PA and Superintendence of Cultural Heritage to protect the building back in February 2019. But when the requests fizzled out it was unclear whether Stivala’s proposition would be allowed to go through.

The PA issued an ECO order in December 2021 halting any alterations to the site effective till December 17, 2022, which has now been pushed to December 12, 2023.

While the order means that development cannot move forward, it is only a temporary measure until the PA are able to conduct an assessment on the property to determine its future.

“The scheduling of this property has not been concluded and therefore it is deemed essential that an ECO be published until the scheduling is concluded,” the PA said.