Wish you were here?

Spain

If you’re heading for the Costa del Sol this summer you’ll probably fly into Malaga airport (above) – it’s the gateway to numerous resorts on the southern Spanish coast, including Torremolinos, a favourite hotspot for sun-seeking Brits.

But rather than rush your family through baggage collection and on to a waiting bus that will whisk you off to your beach-side hotel, why not hang around for a while? Because for the next few years Malaga airport doubles as a live construction site – think of the photo opportunities!

Malaga airport channels 13m passengers a year. But by 2020, thanks to a new terminal building, car park and runway currently under construction, that figure will be closer to 24m.

The runway won’t be complete until 2010, so if your passion is civils, there’s no rush. Maybe have a word with the project manager at main contractor Aertec, or with technical consultant Bovis Lend Lease – they should be able to tell you when some juicy operations are due to start on site.

And you’ll be pleased to know that the car park – completion expected next year – is now set to be seven storeys tall, two more than originally planned. No doubt there’ll be some great rebar to see during the erection of this multi-storey.

German firm W&P Architects and Engineers has designed the terminal building. It says it wants to create a ‘holistic’ design – yawn – and is doing this by playing with the shapes and forms found in the existing terminals, but using new materials. Whatever.

If you’re looking for ‘hardcore’ construction however, worry not, because there’s loads more going on – the construction of two new platforms for the parking of aircraft using the new terminal for example. Or how about the aeronautical activities zone? There’s bound to be some live works there.

It would surely be foolish to miss this live building site. In fact, why not send the wife and kids on to the hotel without you? Too many distractions could spoil your site inspection.

France

Okay. So your plane has touched down in Paris and you’ve picked up your hire car and now you’re heading south – and west a bit – for the Bordeaux region. This wine-tasting holiday was your wife’s idea and the kids will love the Atlantic coast beaches but... it was you who suggested the fly-drive arrangement.

The drive, as you know, passes by the Laser Mégajoule nuclear test centre (far left), conveniently located between Bordeaux and Arcachon, the charming seaside resort you’ve booked into. And because you’re a fan of concrete – the key material used on this project – you know you’re going to love this beauty.

It’s a massive undertaking for Bouygues Construction and others in the delivery team. The site is 320 metres long and 190 metres wide, and Mégajoule’s eventual floor area will cover 150,000m2.

On completion in 2010 it will enable the physical process of nuclear fusion to be simulated in total safety – meaning no more real-world nuclear tests.

Part of the build involves creating an experimental laboratory surrounded by halls that contain 240 laser beams. The room housing this lab will have 2m thick walls – they’ve got to withstand enormous stability stresses. But there’s more than just concrete to see here.

There’s the lab itself, for example. Designed by technology services consultant Ceglec, the hermetically sealed spherical chamber is well worth a look. When operational it will be capable of generating a level of heat and pressure comparable to those in the core of the sun – all in the name of thermonuclear reaction research.

It represents ‘an unprecedented performance in the field of metal-working, welding and geometrical measurement’, according to Ceglec. But then it would say that, non?

This is a project that takes time to appreciate – a blend of science and technology, design and construction – so don’t let your family rush you. You’ll be lucky to sneak a camera inside, however.

Italy

Ahhh... Venice! Queen of the Adriatic, famous for its extravagant architecture, bridges and canals, palaces and piazzas. A romantic city but fun too for the young ones – the waterways and gondolas delight them.

While you’re there, though, check out the Mestre Hospital (below) on the outskirts of this historic city. It’s a PFI project, and the first in Italy to follow the UK model. Here’s a chance to compare Italian management and construction skills against our own.

The 600-bed hospital is located on a greenfield site bound by a railway and road on two sides. When it opens in January next year it will provide general medical care, an emergency centre and advanced surgical facilities. Funded by client-consortium Veneta Sanitaria Finanza di Progetto, main contractor, Italian giant Astaldi, began constructing the €253m project in February 2004.

If it’s unfinished builds you’re after, malta has plenty to offer. There are an estimated 10,000 sites on the island and forecasts predict the building boom is set to continue

Mestre hospital is now in its final stages and the fit-out of the 200,000m2 shell is well under way. Designed by the Argentinean architect Emilio Ambasz, it’s an impressive structure: a cast in-situ concrete frame, with a glass curtain wall and rooftop planting. Two floors are submerged while six concrete slabs rise up above ground, a progressive stagger giving it a distinctive form. As far as PFI hospitals go – at least compared to the brutes we build in Britain – this one’s a looker. But then Ambasz is not your typical PFI architect, he’s an arty type and his work features in coffee table editions.

An inauguration ceremony is planned for September – why not take the whole family along?

Portugal

Portugal is all about choice. Sand and sea or historic streetscapes? The sun-soaked Algarve or elegant, historic Lisbon? This year however, you’re going to do it all.

The Algarve is like a second home for many British citizens – millions of us have travelled there over the years, attracted by the sun and leisure opportunities. But Lisbon has its attractions too – history, good food and interesting buildings.

Like many European centres Lisbon (above) is undergoing a construction boom and one of the biggest brownfield projects on site right now is the 112,000m2 development called Praça de Entrecampos. Main contractor is Alves Ribeiro.

The €156m project comprises 700 flats, 600 student residences, a large office block and tower, as well as 5,000 underground parking spaces. A public square and arts centre are also in the mix. A modular approach to the design means that precast elements are repeated throughout the scheme – so if you like modern methods of construction this is the building site for you. You’ll find it wedged between the university campus and the city’s business district.

On the Algarve there’s a project by the same designer – Promontory Arquitectos. It’s camera friendly and luckily for you, it’s still on site. Called the Hotel Tivoli Victoria, it forms part of the Algarve Regional Territory Regulation Plan being overseen by the Ministry of Public Works. Over the next 10 years the plan will accommodate 24,000 new hotel beds in high-end resorts.

The Tivoli Victoria, part of the Villamoura resort development, is a 280-bedroom hotel overlooking three 18-hole golf courses. Detailed with marbles and hardwoods, its facade system is a composite of travertine stone blocks, white pre-cast concrete lintels and aluminium frames.

Look out for the moulded decorative bas reliefs, also in precast concrete, that are set to be placed in facade niches.

There’s a lot to see in Portugal. So make sure you take a whopping memory card for your camera.

Malta

Hard luck if you’re booked to go to Malta (below). You’ll arrive on the island at the precise moment its biggest construction project in years has come to an end: the Mater Dei Hospital built by Skanska. However, while the scaffolding may have gone and the cranes have moved on, this project is still worth straying from the beach for.

The hospital has a total floor area of 232,000m2 and approximately 8,000 rooms and doubles up as a teaching facility for the University of Malta. But this was a controversial project for the tiny Mediterranean island nation and it’s taken more than seven years to build.

The press was relentless in its criticism of its slow progress and spiralling costs. It claimed Skanska – due payments totalling €339m

– was being paid far too much. Malta’s The Times newspaper reported: ‘What started as an exciting project in the early 1990s to create a specialised hospital has now turned into a monster, which

is not only costing the country a fortune, but is also eating into taxpayers’ pockets to unacceptable levels.’

Furthermore, there’s was an embarrassing row over the awarding of a €70m contract to supply hospital equipment which dragged in the Prime Minister who some accused of nepotism. The committee intended to check and oversee the contracts contains members of his family.

But the project does have some positive aspects. During the construction, for example, trees that would have normally been

cut down have instead been moved and re-planted at other sites. Rubble walls and buildings of cultural heritage value have been moved and rebuilt in a safe environment. Waste and recycling were both central to the building process too.

Sadly though, there’s no more construction to see. But if it’s unfinished builds you’re after, Malta still has plenty to offer. There are an estimated 10,000 sites on the island and forecasts predict the current building boom is set to continue.