Three years of making!

Bouygues Batiment International had one thing in mind: to create a masterpiece. After three years they have delivered the airport that they are all extremely proud of.

Aside from all the many operational objectives set from the start of the project, Bouygues Batiment International, took into account all the environmental, economic and time factors that were involved with the making of the New Larnaca airport. Mr David Lambartin, Technical Manager of the Cyprus Branch of Bouygues explained how they drew on expertise from all around the world and worked with the idea that an airport is where people have their first experience of a country, and as first impressions count it makes it an extremely important place. With a team comprised of engineers, architects, mechanical engineers, designers and airport equipment engineers as well as Bouygues coordinating staff, team spirit was an important factor, without which nothing could have been achieved.

They have created an ultra modern airport that can cater up to 7.500.000 passengers per year and incorporated a cultural and artistic aspect to the airport experience. The "Sense of Place" is something very close to Mr Labardin's heart.

"Sense of Place" was created with the aim of preserving cultural heritage and a new way to promote and sponsor local art. The artists' work, having drawn strongly on the Chalcolithic period, can be seen in the external and internal areas of the airport.

The main challenge was the sheer size of the project. With both, Larnaca and Paphos in the pipeline, the two projects could not be approached separately. Excellent time management was essential for both the engineers, designers and the construction team.

However, an important issue in the airport design, according to the Mr Labardin, was the environmental aspect. "We did our best to take into account the natural environment around the airport and applied all the required environmental standards."

It is worth nothing that the 310 lemon trees which had originally been a part of the building site were temporarily moved and replanted along with 69 olive trees which made up part of the over-all landscaping of the project. Recycling crushed project on site was also very important as it avoided disposing  of such materials and saved the trucks from travelling between the quarry and the site. Furthermore, a special cooling system was put in place to help conserve energy, and staff have volunteered to be part of the Actitudes group mto help with with sustainable development.

With the new airport now ready to fulfill its purpose, the project is something for all those involved to be proud of.

"Despite the fact we are one of the biggest design and construction companies, every project, no matter how big or small, is an important project to us. And in particular, this project ranks very high for Bouygues ' accomplishments", stated Mr Labardin.

Article of Vassiliki Michelas, on the official commemoration of the inauguration of L.I.A., issued by the publishing company "Phileleftheros".