Monthly Progress Meeting 8th December 2009

The unseasonal weather continued in Cyprus in early December with more than 10 days of electrical storms and torrential rain. Although great for topping up the island's dams, the deluges have caused damage to roads, properties and beaches across the island. Konnos Bay, a particularly beautiful beach at Cape Greco in the south east of the island suffered a landslide and the beach has effectively been washed away. The authorities are working hard to restore this and other beaches for the summer season.

Flooded swimming pools

B-block

F-block

The extremely heavy rain has slowed down some of the external work at The Grove Spa Resort site due to flooding although much of the progress is now indoors. The ceramics for the floors and walls of the sample apartments have arrived and are now being laid. On the blocks where construction is completed the solar panels and water tanks are being installed.

H-block

The basement slab between Blocks D & E has now been closed up and the basement finished. The new children's pool has been laid out in front of D-block and blocks A & H have completed the skeleton and brickwork.

Townhouses & childrens' pool

The electro-mechanical work is now underway in the Spa building and we're ready to start the screeds for the floors and the dry walling to divide up the space into the treatment and changing rooms and communal space. Work continued with Claire Chrysostomou, the interior architect, on the specifications for the internal fit-out of the Spa, gym and reception.

Grove Spa Building

Gym & reception space

Site overview with block C & Spa building in foreground

G-block

Construction will stop over for 10 days over the festive season and resume again in January. There is no official progress meeting in January but I will be there during the month to report as usual.

Monthly Progress Meeting 3rd November 2009

View of resort from restaurant

We've had some torrential rain and spectacular electrical storms in Cyprus the last 2 weeks of October and into early November. The rain is unusual as October is usually the finest month for weather of the whole year. Dominic was in Cyprus on a family holiday and he took the opportunity to join us for the Monthly Progress Meeting on 3rd November. He was surprised, again, at the speed with which The Grove Spa Resort is taking shape, having not visited the site for 3 months.

C Block from F Block

Restaurant ground floor

Space for utilities on the roof

Spa & block C

D-block & restaurant with basement slab under construction

G block

Blocks B and G are substantially ahead of programme, Blocks C, D and E are on schedule and we are still catching up on the slight delay to Blocks A and H as well as the general pool area. The roof of C-block has now been tiled with a large space in the middle to house the hot water systems and air conditioning compressors, minimising the visual impact. The slab roof of the basement between blocks D and E is almost closed up, giving a much better idea of the finished look of that area. GCC is delaying finishing the slab by a few days as a group of civil engineering students is visiting the site to see how this kind of construction happens in practice.

E & F-bock & basement slab Nov 3 2009

E block & basement

Roof garden screed prepped for tiles

Examining the roof line

Consultant & contractor inspection

There are changes to the plans every time we visit and this time we made a decision to combine the space of the TV room and games room in the basement to make a much bigger and more flexible space. This means it can also be used as a meeting or seminar room for visiting groups as well as host a much bigger audience for those all-important international sports matches. Within the apartments we changed the halogen downlighters in the living / dining rooms to LED strip lights that will be located above the feature ceiling to provide much more environmentally-friendly mood lighting.

LED lights for living room recessed ceiling

For the outdoors, we worked on the tennis court and yoga platform designs and we are now working with the owner of the development next door to provide significantly improved amenities for the whole village. Instead of us both building a children's playground on the green area, we are looking at how we can best use the combined space together.

Dominic & Claire the interior designer

Jonathan and Joanne spent a lot of time working on furniture options, both for owners and for the common areas, such as the Spa, reception and rooftop bar and Jon and I spent many hours with Claire Chrysostomou, the interior designer, finalising every detail of the finishes for the Spa, including the design features of the hydrotherapy area and the equipment for the reception area.

Hydrotherapy Pool

Buddy

An interesting development for me personally was my adoption of Buddy, the Brittany Spaniel. Or maybe I should say his adoption of me. Found bedraggled under a hedge after a particularly dramatic storm and left unclaimed for 2 weeks, I have now adopted him and am working on getting his pet passport to bring him back to UK next summer. What a gorgeous little fellow he is!

While I have returned to the gales and deluges of a British winter, Jonathan remains in Cyprus for a week of sunshine, DIY and sprucing up of his personal properties, preparing them for the winter. The final Progress Meeting of the year will be on 11th December.

Monthly Progress Meeting 6th October 2009

The Grove Spa Resort

Blocks B, C, E, F and G are all ahead of schedule with the screed laid ready to start tiling.

View from F001

Blocks A and H are springing up quickly, catching up on the initial delay.

Front of Block A

The reception building is now at first floor level and the skylights from the ground floor level into the hydrotherapy area of the basement have been punched through.

Skylights into Hydrotherapy Pool

Work continues on the basement and machine room areas of the outdoor pools and the Jacuzzis.

Jacuzzi

We have now received all client choices for ceramic tiles and granite as well as the kitchens, wardrobes and internal doors and the 4 sample apartments are being prepared. Thanks to everyone for returning your choices on time.

3 Floors of D Block

We are spending a lot of time with the interior designer Claire Chrysostomou on the interiors of the Spa building, particularly in the hydrotherapy area with the sauna, steam room and multiple wet areas. New 3D images of these areas will be ready shortly.

Hydrotherapy Pool Structure

B Block Roof Gardens

Regards

Stephanie

Latest panoramic images of The Grove Spa Resort

Plot A Panorama

Plot B Panorama

Monthly Progress Meeting 8th September 2009

Jonathan and I have spent the last two weeks back in Cyprus as everyone gets back to work after the August holidays. The monthly progress meeting with the contractors and consultants on 8th September showed that, despite the 3-week shutdown, construction is still racing on. The screed is going down in Blocks B, C, D & E now that the electrics and plumbing is all completed. Blocks F and G are at plastering stage and A & H are catching up on the schedule. The outside pool areas are shaping up well now that the roof of the basement is being cast. The individual roof gardens of the penthouse apartments are now in place and the barbecues, food preparation and storage facilities are being built.

Pool outline & Block F

Block G from top of Block B

Ground Floor Block C across to Block F

The hydrotherapy pool in the basement has been cast and we’re working with the interior designer on the finishes for the pool and Spa areas as well as the main reception building, roof top bar and dance studio. The new 3D images of the Spa are shaping up nicely and will be posted here on the blog as soon as they are ready.

Block B Roof Garden

View from Gym across pool to C & D Blocks

Jacuzzi & Pool between blocks B & G

Jonathan has been hard at work all through August (no holiday for him!) finalising the selections for the interior fittings. Every client has received a pack showing the choice of kitchens, wardrobes and doors for personalising the properties and the second pack showing the choice of ceramic tiles and granite will be issued early next week. The four sample apartments are on track to be ready at the beginning of next month.

Jonathan and Joanne discussing kitchen choices with clients, even while taking a breather in the garden of the Nicosia office

With the basement roof closing up it’s time to look again at the landscaping plans and we are on site with the landscaping designers later this week to check that the planting plan still looks good now that we can see the levels for real. The gardens are a key element of the scheme and will create shade, colour and scent all year round. To allow the plants time to establish, we will begin the planting as soon as the ground floor level is finished.

Checking the roof gardens

Don’t forget to send your interior choices to Jonathan by the end of next week. If you wish to discuss the selections, please call Jonathan on +44 (0)151 244 5443 or Joanne on +357 99 418 025.

Stephanie

Site Visits for Owners and Buyers

If you would like to visit the site of The Grove Spa Resort, please call Jonathan in the Liverpool office on +44 151 244 5443 or Joanne in Cyprus on +357 99 418025 to book an appointment ahead of time. We will be very happy to show you around. You will not be permitted access to the site unless you are accompanied by a member of our staff. Although we do have hard hats and a supply of safety shoes we cannot cater for all shoe sizes so you are advised to wear very stout shoes. You will not be permitted onto the site with sandals, flip flops or open-toed shoes.

The construction site will be closed between 1^st and 24^th August and the InvestinCyprus.com Developers offices in both Cyprus and Liverpool will be closed between 8^th and 24^th August. It’s simply too hot! ( - at least we hope it will be in Liverpool!)

Monthly Progress Meeting 7th July 09

On a swelteringly hot 7th July day with unusually high humidity, Jonathan and I attended the final monthly progress meeting before the summer shut down. Lead by Constantinos the architect, we heard encouraging reports from the main contractor as well as all the consultants and other sub-contractors. Blocks B, C and E are racing ahead and are one month ahead of schedule. We are also ahead on blocks D, F and G which means we can focus more attention on blocks A & H which are currently running slightly behind schedule. We transferred from the onsite meeting room to the sample apartments to check progress there. Having laid out the electrics and water supply in the kitchens and looked in detail at these in the 4 sample apartments, we decided to change the design of two types of the kitchens to make them more ergonomic.

Plot B Panorama to blocks C & D


Blocks B & G with main pool

In Nicosia later that week we met with the pools supplier and finessed the details of the Hydrotherapy Suite ensuring that the eventual experience of using that facility will be exceptionally relaxing and therapeutic. We have a large pool with multiple jets both in and out of the water, bubble beds, Jacuzzi, steam room and sauna and cold plunge pool. This will perfectly complement the therapist treatments available and provide the ideal relaxation after a tough session in the gym or the dance studio.

Plot A Panorama


Constantinos & Stephanie with the electrical contractors


Blocks B & G with main pool


Spa interior brickwork

Jonathan and I spent a lot of time with the many suppliers of kitchens, wardrobes, windows, tiles and bathroom fittings finalising the selections. We are now preparing the After-Sales Choices pack for buyers and this will be sent out shortly so buyers can order colours and fixtures and fittings. So look out for this pack over the summer.

Hydrotherapy pool structure