Week of 5 October
1. Flour power: Bluebird lands early and on budget (Australia)
Flour may be light, but building a mill for it is anything but. In Ballarat, in south-eastern Australia, our BESIX Watpac colleagues have reached practical completion on MAURI’s new seven-level flour mill, delivering Project Bluebird two months early and on budget. Behind that finish sits some serious coordination: 1,480 pieces of specialist process equipment, around 1,000 precast elements and 5,000 m³ of concrete across 44 pours, all brought together in a facility designed for modern, hygienic and automated food production. The project also created 200 local construction jobs and recorded hundreds of thousands of hours worked with zero lost time injuries. That combination of precision, local capability and safe delivery is a milestone worth recognising. Congratulations to everyone who helped bring this complex facility to life.
2. Meir Corner in a new light (Belgium)
On Antwerp’s Meir, work continues on Zara’s new retail space. The scale is hard to miss: with 14,500 m² across three floors, this will be Zara’s largest store worldwide, reinforcing Antwerp’s reputation as a fashion city. For our colleagues on site, the details are already coming into view. The team is now testing the façade lighting, giving the building a very different presence once daylight fades. More milestones will follow, but the photos already offer a striking glimpse of what is taking shape on one of the city’s best-known shopping streets. A big well done to everyone keeping this demanding city-centre project moving while preparing the next phases.
3. PPPs: partnerships built for the long haul (UAE)
What makes a partnership last? Successful public-private partnerships, or PPPs, start with trust, transparency and a long-term commitment from everyone involved. At BESIX, we have been pioneering PPP solutions in the Middle East since 2006, developing tailor-made approaches that look well beyond construction. That experience made the discussions at the Al Ain Future Business Forum, with our colleague Peter Lembrechts among the participants, particularly relevant. The conversation focused on the full lifecycle, bringing development, construction, operation and maintenance together to create lasting value. And the timing matters. As Al Ain invests in schools, student accommodation and healthcare infrastructure, there are clear opportunities to build on that experience and support the city in its next chapter.
4. Bricks and sandwiches: rethinking how we build (Belgium)
We won’t meet tomorrow’s housing needs by only building the way we always have. Belgium will need almost one million additional homes by 2050, putting traditional construction methods under pressure. In the Bricks and Sandwiches podcast, Bert Lenaerts, CEO of Vanhout Group, explores how industrialisation and off-site construction could help change the equation. His ambition is bold: build up to 80% in a controlled environment, leaving just 20% to be assembled on site. The thinking is simple: greater predictability, fewer failure costs and less material waste. And it is not just theory. Our colleagues at CIRCL are already applying that fresh approach to modular construction, creating high-quality, energy-efficient and personalised homes through a fast and sustainable building process. No sales pitch, just plenty of food for thought about how we build tomorrow.
Listen to the podcast (in Dutch).
