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Two buildings which will form the Marina Residency Club, were both erected during the British period. The Royal Navy based in Malta built a Distillation plant in 1903 for the conversion of sea-water into fresh water, servicing the requirements of the Admiral of the Fleet, then using Fort St Angelo as the British Fleet Headquarters.
Ward building, a former defensive complex facing inner Kalkara Creek, is situated at the side of the larger room of the Distillation plant. It consists of five independent but adjacent vaults, or casemates, each with a separate entrance. A battery, built by Grunenbergh between 1688 and 1690, has an embrasure at the back of each vault and was originally intended to guard the same creek.
These buildings are presently separated by a blocked sally-port stairs which connected the two levels in the past. The two buildings will be connected once more by reopening the stairs leading from the ex Ward building above to the ex Distillery plant.
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The Ward building was modified into low quality tourist accommodation units about thirty years ago, with the larger masonry vaults subdivided into smaller rooms further concealing these unique characteristics of the building above polystyrene suspended ceilings. The premises have lain abandoned for nearly twenty years. The conservation works will restore the building architecturally to their former glory enabling the use of the renovated and restored building as exquisite residential units in a magnificent medieval setting.
The façade of the Distillery plant, which has been abandoned since the departure of the British Services and was heavily pillaged and vandalized over the years, is constructed in beautiful hard Maltese limestone which has weathered the "Gregale" storms over the decades and mellowed into a beautiful grayish - brown hue. The interiors have suffered heavily due to lack of protection from the marine climate and ingress of rainwater. The entire building will be restored with the interior converted into three floors accommodating the marina residents' club house and facilities.
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