A year after the new Castille lighting made the news for the wrong reasons, a fresh controversy has erupted this time on a new illuminating system installed at the Palace in Valletta, which is set to host EU Council meetings during Malta’s upcoming presidency.

Once again the LED lighting system has drawn undesirable comparisons with Las Vegas-styled casinos and clubs, but this time around there is an added feature whereby the façades of the internal courtyard can be illuminated in various colours.

The illuminating system in its conventional mode. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Faced by this criticism, the Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation which was in charge of the works, insisted that the multi-colour feature would be the exception and not the rule.

Unveiled last Thursday by Infrastructure Minister Joe Mizzi, the project was part of a €5 million embellishment meant to revamp the Grandmaster’s Palace. Works also included the refurbishment of a modern conference room to host EU ministerial meetings, in place of the disused parliamentary chamber.

Though the inauguration of the lighting system had gone largely unnoticed, the publication of an official photo portraying the internal courtyard in a mix of red, blue and white light fuelled controversy on social media.

Many subscribed to the view that the illumination lacked decorum and was more reminiscent of a Las Vegas-styled nightclub like Caesar’s Palace.

Is this the image and decorum which Maltese authorities want to portray of this historic building housing the President’s Office?

Such criticism echoed a similar controversy which was raging on this time last year, when parts of the Castille façade were damaged to install a new lighting system. A leading architect at the time had expressed complete disbelief that such irreversible intervention which he had labelled as a “travesty” had been carried out on such a historic landmark.

In a tongue-in-cheek comment on Facebook, anthropologist Mark-Anthony Falzon captioned the inauguration photo as “in da club”, while baroque expert Prof. Keith Sciberras criticised what he described as the lack of a holistic plan for the lighting in Valletta.

Architectural historian Conrad Thake described the “garish colours” in the internal courtyard as reminiscent of some “Las Vegas-style boudoir or nightclub”.

He also levelled criticism on the transformation of the disused parliamentary chamber.

“Do not in the least envy whoever has to sit for hours on end in that insipid white gypsum-bedecked hall reminiscent of some early-20th century sanatorium,” he remarked.

“Is this the image and decorum which Maltese authorities want to portray of this historic building housing the President’s Office?” Prof Thake questioned when contacted by this newspaper.

The former Parliamentary chamber which has been converted to an EU ministerial meeting hall. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Asked for his reaction, GHRC chairman Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi clarified that the multi-coloured feature portrayed in the official photo would be used sparingly on special occasions like Pink October or World Autism Day.

Meanwhile a spokesman for the Parliamentary Secretariat for EU Funds, which carried out the works on the plenary chamber, pointed out that the design was based on a number of considerations.

These included EU protocol and communication guidelines, logistical requirements and facilities made available by previous presidencies.

“The installation of the electricity, air-conditioning, IT and audio visual systems are temporary and concealed under gypsum walls and raised flooring in order to safeguard the historic building under the supervision of Heritage Malta,” he said.

Moreover, at the end of the EU Presidency the set-up would be dismantled and the venue handed over to Heritage Malta as part of the plan to restore it back to its original state and host the Palace’s armoury, the spokesman said.