A 19th-century townhouse in the heart of Sliema has been saved the chop after the developer who proposed its demolition had a change of heart and is now proposing its restoration.
However, plans to replace its mature garden with a seven-storey block of apartments remain in the balance after the Planning Commission on Friday sent the developer back to the drawing board.
The commission was considering application PA/09273/19 which sought permission to demolish the existing house and construct a complex of 32 garages, 18 apartments, three penthouses and four offices over the site which included the garden.
As the planning application was being heard, commission chairman Martin Camilleri said that following a site inspection, it concurred with the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage that the historic house and its belvedere overlooking the mature garden had significant architectural importance and had to be conserved in its entirety.
He observed that the proposed development on Manuel Dimech and Parisio streets did not provide an adequate building height transition from the urban conservation area.
The proposed project was recommended for approval, with the case officer saying that the “garden in question has no protection status and falls outside the UCA boundary”.
The officer's report said the proposed development was in an area of similar scale development and recommended the application for approval on policy grounds.
Last year, thousands of residents signed a petition against the project. They believed the property should be retained in its entirety, including its extensive formal garden, pointing out the ornateness and architectural value of the highly stylised back façade on Parisio Street.
The project’s architect, Reuben Sciortino told the commission that the garden was within scheme and outside the urban conservation area and was already surrounded by buildings as high as the one being proposed.
He said his clients had submitted fresh plans to retain the townhouse and turn it into a “comfortable, habitable place”.
Objector and architectural heritage practitioner Edward Said insisted that the question was not whether it was within scheme or outside the UCA and neither was it a question of reducing the building height.
“The house and its belvedere and garden have been there since the beginning of 20th century. The garden is an integral part of the house. It doesn’t make sense to fix the house and destroy the garden. There are palm trees that survived the war. It’s a question of proper town planning. It is one of the last remaining mature gardens, a green lung in Sliema and it is up to the PA to protect it,” he said.
Sciortino retorted that the proposal was in line with policies and in the context of the surrounding areas and commitments in the vicinity.
The commission decided to defer the application to allow the applicant to address its concerns, specifically the lack of adequate building height transition from the urban conservation area and the context of the surroundings, including the historic house and the belvedere.
Noting that the decision to retain the historic townhouse was “a step in the right direction”, commission members noted that addressing the context was “of utmost importance”. The decision was postponed to November.