Does Malta really need more high-rise buildings due to the limited land available? And what about the effect on the environment and society, asks Veronica Stivala.
When the trend started back in the 1950s, high-rise was a quick solution to housing shortage and a growing population. Smaller footprints meant less land was occupied and large populations could be housed within relatively concentrated areas.
What was once a solution for social housing has nowadays been transformed into exclusive residential developments, attracting higher earning buyers wishing to take up residence in landmark buildings.
A case in point, says Karl Farrugia, principal architect and structural engineer at F&A Farrugia and Associates, is the Bosco Verticale in Milan, a high-rise with integrated gardens.
In Malta, the pressure to increase building heights to more than two floors to accommodate the increasing demand for floor space in areas such as St Paul’s Bay, Msida, Gzira, Marsalforn, Xlendi, and especially in Sliema and St Julian’s led to a new tool to control building heights in the 1990s.
The Malta Environment and Planning Authority’s Planning Policy Guide on the Use and Applicability of the Floor Area Ratio documents how this ratio was introduced in 1990 and endorsed as a detailed policy in 2000. FAR is the total square feet of a building divided by the total square feet of the lot the building is located on. This means that buildings with varying numbers of storeys can have the same FAR because this counts the total floor area of a building and not just the building’s footprint.
The guide notes how requests to build have varied from nine to 40 floors, with concentrations in Xemxija, Qawra, Sliema, St Julian’s and Gzira, mostly for residential development, offices or mixed-use schemes. The document acknowledges the lack of a detailed policy framework on higher buildings achievable through the application of the FAR led MEPA to prepare, in 2006, the policy on the use, design and spatial location of tall buildings. A lack of market interest led to the loss of momentum in the policy approval process. Nonetheless, a policy on the FAR is still required as development applications are still pending.
However, the question remains whether, due to limited land available, high rises are a viable solution for Malta.
“In order to occupy less land area for urban development, arguments would suggest that it would make more sense to expand vertically,” Farrugia says.
“Yet there are implications, environmentally, socially and at an urban landscape level. It has to be a very balanced recipe to get right.”
Ray DeMicoli principal and founding architect at DeMicoli & Associates, says that in a modern economy, there comes a time where the need arises for landmark buildings. He compares the desire for high-rise to that of fashion, a sign of a progressive city.
“As can be seen from London, high-rise towers of different shapes, swirls curves of other forms are essentially a symbol of capitalist and corporate venture. Star architects are hired to brand buildings, just like fashion. International norms and standards are demanded in a corporate world.”
That said, he says that Malta must be careful not to follow the same path as Dubai.
Environmental commentator Petra Caruana Dingli says that the new high-rise policy has retrofitted existing commitments and endorsed plans already in the pipeline.
“Changes in building heights have a huge impact on the entire community. They should not be implemented piecemeal or introduced to accommodate property owners,” she says.
“The increase in building heights in 2006 was only for one extra storey but resulted in widespread demolition and redevelopment of houses everywhere. It discouraged the restoration or refurbishment of existing houses and wreaked havoc on the character of many towns and villages.”
Considering high-rise for commercial use, Farrugia lists benefits such as concentrating commercial institutions within designated buildings. The possibility of grouping high-rise into districts creates better segregation between residential and commercial areas.
The flipside, Farrugia says, is that by its very definition, high-rises tend to put together a high number of occupants.
“We therefore get the attributed disadvantages such as crowding, heavy pedestrian as well as vehicular traffic particularly at rush hours. At an urban landscape level, we get visual implications of large structures towering over pedestrians. We tend to get a reduction in light in surrounding streets as well as turbulent wind currents in areas downwind from the structure.”
Yet if used commercially and thus for limited periods such as a working day, high-rise offices work well. Considered for habitation however, Farrugia points to research conducted abroad on residential tower blocks, which raises certain issues that need to be taken care of when designing spaces.
“Studies cite that residents were observed to support anonymity and depersonalisation. Some studies report observing behavioural issues associated with children, height and fear of falling. Interaction and intimacy between neighbours is reduced and thus design has to take into account the social interaction constraints and address these issues.”
High-rise buildings will change the character of the Maltese urban landscape. However, Farrugia says that we mustn’t look at high-rise negatively.
“If located in the right places with adequate surrounding infrastructure and attention for the visual implications on surrounding areas, high-rise buildings could be a success story. They can create interest and define an area. But again, it is a very balanced act.”
What about the effect on the environment and society?
Nowadays people have an increasing awareness of alternative energy. Farrugia believes that if studied well, high-rise buildings could perform environmentally.
In terms of the effect on society, Farrugia says that the Maltese are resilient to change by nature. Yet he believes the public does not have faith in good quality design.
“Malta is limited in size. We did not have a chance to organise our towns to suit modern trends and needs. Towns have grown based on the same street layouts that existed 100 years ago, and so the public only sees further development as a source of exasperation.”
Demicoli notes the positioning of high-rises, which may not always be placed where there are existing vacant buildings. But in Demicoli’s views, there are not many vacant buildings right now, since the rental market is flourishing.
“High-rises can certainly co-exist with our historical monuments, notwithstanding the small size of the island,” Demicoli says.
Caruana Dingli is not entirely opposed to this but she says that the question we should be asking is whether high-rises are providing any wider benefits to the community.
“They should certainly do more than increase pressure on traffic and infrastructure, change the character of the urban landscape, and offer views from their windows.
“There has been absolutely no wider benefit, for instance, from the high-rise building near the Addolorata cemetery. Tall buildings are expected to contribute to regenerating or improving the surrounding areas.”
So what is the way forward regarding new buildings in Malta?
A bit more attention for qualitative design and maintaining standards in design and construction with sensitivity towards the surroundings, which unfortunately at times we lack, says Farrugia.
“There is a stigma associated with development which I believe can be overcome with a bit more awareness of surroundings and the context that a development is in.”