The planning commission has granted permission for two more floors to be built on a landmark building in Sliema’s Dingli Street, prompting a stinging reproach of Maltese architects and the heritage watchdog from a leading NGO.

Palazzina D’Amico, located in Triq Norfolk c/w Triq Sir Adrian Dingli, was designed by architect Giuseppe Cachia Caruana around the mid-1930s.

The SCH is betraying the people of Malta by overseeing the destruction of what it was set up to protect- FAA

Application PA/07004/21, filed by Malcolm Cassar, was for the demolition of two washrooms on the third floor and its extension, as well as the construction of a fourth floor, a receded floor on the fifth and two washrooms.

It had been recommended for refusal but permission was granted last week, prompting strong condemnation from heritage and environment NGO Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar.

It described the Dingli Street building as a “landmark” due to its integration of British colonial architecture with the Maltese architectural idiom and its unique façade that includes an iconic turret.

“When architect Elena Borg Costanzi applied to add a further two storeys, which would effectively erase the turreted skyline, violating the Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development, and Design Guidelines 2015, it was thought that such a travesty, destroying the proportions and character of the building, could not be approved,” an FAA spokesperson said.

Palazzino D'Amica, designed in the mid-1930s, lies on Triq Norfolk and Triq Sir Adrian Dingli in Sliema. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Applications 'abusive and in violation of regulations'

The palazzina lies in a Category A street, which precludes the addition of extra floors, she explained, adding that “in a country where anything is possible, it was nevertheless approved”.

FAA said it was “shocking” that architects submitted applications they knew to be abusive, violating policies and regulations.

The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage had initially expressed concern about the proposed increase in volume that “challenges the legibility of the original architecture and the proportions of existing façades”.

It drew particular attention to the street classification within the UCA of Sliema, FAA pointed out.

It was shocking, however, that, two years later, the superintendence did an about-turn and approved the project, FAA charged.

“What is the point of creating new policies, such as the PA Circular 3/20, protecting the context of scheduled buildings within a radius of 50m, when this permit, just 25m from a scheduled building, is granted?

“In this case, as in many others that FAA highlights to the PA, the architect failed to submit all the photos, streetscapes and photomontages as legally required, yet the PA published and processed the permit without these legal obligations,” charged the NGO.

“Malta’s architects should know better than to be involved in this sordid destruction of Malta’s heritage architecture, along with the PA, perceived as Malta’s most corrupt authority,” it continued.

“One does not expect better from developers but the SCH is betraying the people of Malta by overseeing the destruction of what it was set up to protect.”

Expressing anger and dismay at the “horrendous” construction, one objector described the PA as a “cancer” of an entity, “allowed to keep on destroying Malta and its heritage”.