PR 14/25 | Kamra tal-Periti calls for preservation of modernist military heritage at White Rocks
The Kamra tal-Periti welcomes the Government’s recent announcement to designate the White Rocks site as a National Park, a landmark decision that will safeguard this coastal area from future development. This initiative represents a significant step toward environmental stewardship and sustainable land use.
In this regard, the Kamra strongly urges that this vision be extended to include the protection and restoration of the historic White Rocks Barracks, originally known as the Officers’ Married Quarters. Constructed in the 1960s under the War Office Works Directorate. These buildings are a rare example of modernist military and residential architecture in Malta. Designed by leading Maltese and British architects, the complex was celebrated internationally, featuring twice in international magazine The Architectural Review (1965 and 1969) for its “simple dignity” and harmonious integration with the landscape.
The ‘tower-in-park’ design adopted at the White Rocks is a modernist concept, championed by Le Corbusier. Across the European continent, in cities like Berlin, Amsterdam, London, modernist housing estates embraced this concept which placed multi-unit blocks within landscaped areas. This urban design principle of the last century is a direct product of the experimentation and advances of the architecture and technological industries at the time, and it should be protected both as built heritage, as well as cultural landscape
The Kamra tal-Periti supports the Government’s designation of White Rocks as a National Park but insists that the conservation of this complex cannot be a success if either the built or the natural fabric is excluded. Therefore, the Kamra advocates for a wholistic approach towards the area, inclusive of full protection and restoration of the original 1960s barracks. White Rocks is an opportunity for a unique cultural landscape on the islands, and the Kamra trusts that adaptive reuse strategies, serving a cultural and educational purposes, are employed.
The Kamra recommends that:
- The White Rocks complex is afforded statutory protection under both the Development Planning Act and the Cultural Heritage Act, and
- That the regeneration project of the area is undertaken through an architectural design competition.
A Brief Historical Timeline
1960s – Built as Officers’ Married Quarters for British military personnel, showcasing modernist design principles.
1979 – British forces withdraw; site handed over to Maltese authorities.
1980s–1995 – Converted into a holiday complex serving language students.
1995 onwards – Site abandoned; multiple redevelopment proposals fail.
2025 – Government announces designation as a National Park.
Images from wikimedia.org
