Builders of Spain’s InTempo skyscraper forget to add elevators

Buying a penthouse condo at a new building in Spain won't mean you are living the high life - it just means you really like walking up and down stairs.

The InTempo, a 47-storey residential skyscraper in the eastern coastal village of Benidorm that is currently under construction, was built without space for an elevator shaft. The first 20 floors have space, but a major architectural blunder left out the space for elevators on the top 27 floors.

The skyscraper, which will be the tallest residential building in the European Union, was dreamed up in the decade-long building boom of the 1990s and was supposed to be a striking symbol of prosperity despite the current financial hard times. It was supposed to open in 2009, but a number of setbacks have continued to delay the opening.

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The project has been a mess from the beginning due to deadly accidents, bad loans, missed deadlines and bankrupt builders. The project was first funded by the bank Caixa Galicia, but as of December, the project was taken over by Sareb, "known as the bad bank." According to the Daily News, Caixa Galicia didn't pay workers for four months. That was around the time they realized the workers were hauling materials up 23 flights of stairs because there wasn't a service elevator.

The lack of an elevator for the top floors is just the latest problem. Gizmodo reports the building was originally only going to have 20 storeys, but the developers increased it to 47 too late into construction. A 47-storey elevator requires more space for lifts and motor equipment than a 20-storey one and that just doesn't exist.

It remains unclear how developers are going to fix this problem, but there is a solution. They can build a series of external elevators similar to the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles. However, that would really increase the price of construction.

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And developers most likely won't be able to pass that cost onto the new home owners because people already aren't buying. The structure is 94 per cent complete and only 35 per cent of the units have been sold.

While this is an obvious set back in a country already dealing with significant financial issues, the silver lining is it may mean more construction jobs.

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