Iniala Hotel says it will remove rooftop illegalities after UNESCO battering

The owner of the Iniala Hotel on Valletta’s St Barbara Bastion has promised to remove the illegal rooftop structure that recently came in for a battering from UNESCO and local cultural heritage watchdogs for marring the unique views of the capital city.

Contacted by The Shift about photographs showing new irregular activity on another part of the five-star hotel’s rooftop – including a new bar, tiling and railings ready to be installed without a permit – the hotel’s owner, British entrepreneur and philanthropist Mark Weingard, insisted it was only temporary and not intended for new development.

“We are making some changes in our hotel, and we have stored a new bar unit temporarily on the roof,” Weingard told The Shift.

“There is no work being carried out currently at the hotel and the unit will be removed shortly,” he promised.

Asked about the more permanent illegal structures for the rooftop Michelin star restaurant, which includes a large, closed-in retractable glazed enclosure on the roof terrace without a Planning Authority permit, Weingard also promised that too will be removed.

“We have made an entirely new application to the Planning Authority and are awaiting approval,” he said.

“We will then dismantle the current structure and replace it with a different structure that has been designed to recede completely into the building and when it is temporarily used as a cover to protect against the elements it will be almost invisible from the streets,” Weingard explained.

“We have worked with an international architect who focuses on creating such structures and hope that this new addition will show that intelligent architectural design can add to the building without detracting from the beauty of the original façade.”

According to the Planning Authority’s system, the latest application (PA3494/22) filed by Weingard’s architect Paul Camilleri dates back to last year and is for the sanctioning of the current illegal structure.

The PA has not yet issued a recommendation but both UNESCO and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage are insisting on the retractable enclosure’s complete removal.

The Shift has reported how a meeting of UNESCO’s technical committee discussed this latest application and objected to it and its impact.

On its part, the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage said the unauthorised glazed enclosure is completely unacceptable and is damaging Valletta’s cultural heritage.

But even though the illegal rooftop structure has been in use daily, the Planning Authority has not issued any enforcement order to remove the illegalities.

The British millionaire has purchased several properties around Valletta over the past decade. His latest venture – in conjunction with the Eden Leisure Group – is a public bid for the iconic Evans Building in lower Valletta, which the government aims to see converted into a luxury five-star hotel by private operators.