Dragages Hong Kong, a Bouygues Construction subsidiary based in Hong Kong since 1956, has been chosen by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to design and build the new Civil Aviation Department headquarters. The €180 million project comes in response to strong growth in air traffic in the south China region.

Designed by architects Ronald Lu & Partners, the new 63,000-sq-metre Civil Aviation Department headquarters will comprise three separate buildings. The first will contain offices, meeting rooms and a staff training centre, the second will house the air traffic control centre (aeronautical information centre, rescue coordination centre, network management centre, etc.), while the third will contain technical facilities and workshops.

Bearing the imprint of environmental protection concerns, the project includes ecoroofs, photovoltaic panels, three 2,000-watt wind turbines and a fibre optic solar tracking system.

The works, which have just begun, will last nearly three years (34 months), with delivery scheduled for early 2012. Over 1,000 people will be working on the project at peak times.

The contract is the seventh won by Dragages Hong Kong in connection with the development of Hong Kong International Airport, after the Cathay Pacific headquarters, aeronautical training centre, catering facilities and maintenance hangars, the AsiaWorld-Expo exhibition centre and the Sky City Marriott hotel, delivered at the end of 2008. Dragages Hong Kong is currently responsible for maintaining and operating the latter two buildings.

Bouygues Construction also operates in Hong Kong through its mechanical and electrical engineering subsidiary Byme and through VSL, which specialises in post-tensioning, cable-stay systems for bridges and special foundations.