British colonial architecture in Pembroke : breathing new life into the Australia hall

Abstract

During the First World War (1914-18), Malta was called 'The Nurse of the Mediterranean' as it was the largest British military settlement hosting thousands of allied wounded soldiers from the Gallipoli and Salonika warfronts. Several recovery camps were set up and large buildings were transformed into hospitals. Most of these soldiers belonged to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACS), some of whom died while in Malta. The area of Pembroke, just north of the Paceville/ St. George's Bay area was the heart of British military life in Malta, with its officers' mess, barracks and married quarters. Present here are a number of old, deteriorating barracks, buildings put to new uses, and street names with British reference. Not all buildings were erected to serve war however; some were built for recreational purposes, such as the Australia Hall, the former Raffles Discotheque, and the Soldiers' Cookhouse and Dining Room. With the shutting down of the British military facilities in 1978, the Australia Hall fell under the ownership of the Maltese government and later allocated to third parties; it remained in an abandoned state ever since. Examining the site and the building itself justifies its conservation; being surrounded by many educational institutions, its re-use could incorporate a concert hall with a suitable new roof structure.