SLIEMA NEW FIVE STAR HOTEL
Sliema new five-star hotel to replace Astra Hotel on corner of Tower Road and Milner Street.
The planning authority has approved the construction of a five-star hotel, with 138 rooms and 15 floors, on the site formerly occupied by the Astra Hotel.
The new hotel is just one building away from the Preluna Hotel, Malta’s first skyscraper.
This new development has been proposed by the owners of the Preluna Hotel.
The site in question is on the corner of Triq it-Torri, Triq L. Graham and Triq Milner, with the main entrance along Għar id-Dud.
The development will be phased towards Milner Street, which still comprises a row of elegant traditional townhouses.
The new hotel will include a two-level underground car park, bars and restaurants, 138 rooms on the second to fifteenth floors and a rooftop pool.
Although the project reaches a similar height to that approved five years ago, it now occupies a larger area along Milner Street.
The Heritage Department had expressed concern about the significant mass of the development, which directly abuts a number of listed terraced houses, and had requested photomontages showing the impact of the development from different viewpoints.
Two photomontages were submitted, one from Triq it-Torri and one from Milner Street. However, the second montage barely includes the neighbouring row of houses.
Although the assessment was based on this limited visual study, the Planning Directorate concluded that the development respected the surrounding context.
Further consultation with the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage was therefore not deemed necessary.
The hotel development benefited from three extra floors above the height limit applicable to the Sliema frontage, thanks to two different policies: one allowing hotels in the development zone two extra floors and another in the Local Plan allowing one additional floor for hotels.
Din l-Art Ħelwa had opposed the development, warning that it would affect both the visual and social liveability of the densely built urban area.
He also questioned the applicability of the hotel height regulations to this site.
However, according to the case officer who assessed the development, the location of the proposed project offered “a significant opportunity in terms of visual and architectural gain as it ensures legibility within the area in which it is located”.
Furthermore, to minimise the visual impact of the project, the developer has reduced the built area at the upper levels to ensure a proper transition.
“By reducing the building volume at these levels, the impact of the development has been reduced, thereby mitigating any potential void partition walls that would have been created on this part of the development.”
(Source: maltatoday.com.mt)
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