A concerted bid is being made to protect the historic landmark townhouses at the entrance to Rabat and Mdina and stop a proposal to turn two of them into a boutique hotel. 

The Rabat local council has spearheaded a request to the Planning Authority to schedule the row of six Victorian-era houses built in the late 19th century  on the design of renowned architect Andrea Vassallo.

View of formal gated gardens on St Augustine Avenue.

The elegant houses overlook Saqqajja Square. A planning application has been submitted to turn two of them, numbered 14 and 15, as well as houses 12 and 13 on St Augustine’s Avenue at the back, into a 30-room boutique hotel.

The proposal would entail the addition of two storeys overlooking the square and four on the avenue side. The application was filed by architect Justin Spiteri on century  on the design  of renowned architect Andrea Vassallo.

Vassallo is responsible for other masterpieces like the Ta’ Pinu basilica in Gozo, Villa Rosa in St Julian’s and the famous gothic house in St Peter’s Square in Mdina, as well as other houses and churches in Malta.

The elegant houses overlook Saqqajja Square.

According to the plans submitted to the PA last year (PA/09516/18), the original proposal was to build a swimming pool in the garden, a bar and a restaurant, and around 50 rooms all with ensuite facilities.

However, after 3,000 objections were received, the developer reduced the number of rooms, dropped the height from five to four storeys and moved the swimming pool to the topmost level.

Outline of houses requested for scheduling.

But objectors – including the council, residents and several NGOs such as Din l- Art Ħelwa, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Moviment  Graffiti and the Malta Archeological Society – say the new 30-room proposal does not address their objections.

They argue that the development, which would entail the demolition of a substantial part of an existing townhouse, would be totally incompatible with the residential zone.

It would ruin the streetscape and the aesthetics of the area. Neither would it fulfil the obligations of a development proposed for a scheduled conservation area, especially given the existence of rare neo-classical architecture.

And no matter how receded the extra floors would be, the development would be an eyesore and would serve as a catalyst for the commercialisation of the area, they claim.

According to a report submitted last week by architect Elena Borg Costanzi on behalf of the Rabat council, the earmarked site also lies within an area of archaeological importance between Is-Saqqajja, which marks the entrance to Mdina, and St Augustine Avenue.

The request to schedule the townhouses will now be considered by the PA’s Heritage Planning Unit.  Scheduling will give them an added level of protection although there is no guarantee they will remain untouched.

Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg told Parliament last December that the hotel application may be a non-starter as it appeared that the additional floors would have a negative impact on the historic building and the designated Area of High Landscape Value of which Saqqajja forms part.

Another hotel application has been submitted for an area a short distance away: 110 rooms built over five floors on a site now occupied by the former Tattingers club as well as some adjacent properties.

Drawing by Andrea Vassallo dated July 1884 of two of the houses.