The planning authority has unanimously approved an application to increase the height of a 15-storey tower in Ta’ Xbiex by a further two floors.

The site, which has a footprint of about 839 square metres, has two frontages on Triq Testaferrata and Triq Enrico Mizzi and two frontages on Triq Emmanuel Galizia.

The floor-to-area ratio of the old and new buildings. SOURCE: Screenshot from PA public online meeting

Architect Joseph Bondin, who made his case on behalf of developer Michael Stivala, noted that the planning authority has already approved the 15-storey office block in 2020.

The developer was now requesting a further two floors following market research that showed that companies, especially foreign businesses, sought office outdoor areas for the benefit of their employees. 

The new proposal sought to achieve this by retaining the same floor-to-area ratio by decreasing the internal office space in favour of larger terraces, allowing for the increase of a further two floors.

The number of parking spaces offered would be 137 – which meant 16 more spaces than required.

Montage of the Ta' Xbiex tower near the Metropolis building from Manoel Island

“We don’t want to be seen as having manoeuvred to get more storeys,” he said stressing that the decision was based on market requirements.

During the presentation, Bondin showed photo montages of what the building would look like from Manoel Island and from the University of Malta. He showed images of the 15-storey version compared to the 17-storey one then added the dwarfing 33-storey Metropolis Plaza project to the scene – a building mass that completely hid the tower from the University of Malta side.

Metropolis building screens off Ta' Xbiex tower from university view-point

After hearing the submissions by Bondin and the case officer, who recommended the application for approval after noting that there were no objections by the parties consulted, the chair of the Planning Authority board, Emanuel Camilleri, said he endorsed the approval and called a vote that resulted in a unanimous eight-nil approval.