KWAZULU-NATAL BAGS SEVEN CMA BUILDING PROJECT AWARDS:
Article Date: 03 October 2008
KwaZulu-Natal precast concrete manufacturers were a credit to their province in this year’s Concrete Manufacturers Association (CMA) Awards for Excellence competition, notching up seven awards for the region. The awards were made in the following categories: Concrete Block Paving (three); Concrete Roof Tiles (two); Concrete Retaining Blocks (one); and Innovative Concrete Products (one).
The aim of the awards is to promote excellence and innovation in the use of precast concrete. It also serves to highlight the significant role that CMA member companies are playing in the provision of educational buildings, access to fresh water, improved sanitation, roads, housing and infrastructural products. The competition is held biennially, this being the 12th since the event was first staged in 1986.
The awards were presented at a ceremony held at the Protea Hotel in Umhlanga, on October 2nd.
The paving awards comprised a Residential award, House Maxwell; a Commercial and Community award for a shopping centre in Durban North, Kensington Boulevard; and an Industrial award for a vehicle bond store at Southgate Industrial Park.
Roofing awards went to a Commercial & Community project, Riverside Club/Varsity College and a Vintage project, Crawford Pre-Primary, in La Lucia. The Retaining Wall award was made to a Vintage project in Umhlanga, The Edge of the Sea, and the Moses Mabhiba Stadium won the Innovative Concrete Products award. Vintage awards are made to worthy projects which are still in their original form and older than 10 years.
The judging of this year’s competition, took place in June when over 150 entries in six category groupings were critically assessed by two judging teams over two days at the CMA’ premises in Midrand.
Each team consisted of five judges. All construction-related professionals, they comprised architects, a landscape architect, civil engineers and a quantity surveyor. The judges pored over and debated the merits of this year’s crop of entries with great deliberation and carefully considered comment was given on their selection of winning entries.
CMA director, John Cairns, says that the 10 judges found the overall standard to be high and where the projects were not of a sufficiently high standard, awards were not made. He notes that the awards are based on photographic and written submissions as time and budget constraints preclude actual site visits.
“The competition would carry very little value without the expertise and unbiased input of the professionals who assume the judges’ mantle, and we are extremely grateful to them for giving up a full day of their busy schedules to participate in the event,” says Cairns.
Several innovative products and systems have been introduced by CMA members during the past five years such as The CMA Roofing System, a concrete tile roofing system for affordable housing, and innovative uses for hollow-core slabs. Unlike some of the materials they replace, they are not only affordable, but retain the inherent qualities that precast manufactured concrete provides.
“These products and systems are widely reflected in the entries for this year’s competition and are successfully contributing to improving the quality of life across the board. New product development always has its attendant risks, no less so in this instance, where margins are low and the competition fierce.
“The risks our members have taken have proved more than worth it, and we look forward to the next 10 years, confident that the CMA will continue to initiate products and systems appropriate to the country’s needs,” concludes Cairns.
KWAZULU-NATAL REGIONAL AWARD WINNERS
The following KwaZulu-Natal projects gained regional awards and some of them may win national awards when these are presented at a gala banquet on October 11th at The Theatre on the Track in Kyalami, Johannesburg.
CONCRETE BLOCK PAVING
P1-4; P2-11 and P3-1
CAPTION P1-4
House Maxwell – Kloof
Category - Residential: paving around residential buildings, driveways, footpaths, courtyards, patios and pool decks.
SmartStone KZN’s Magalies pavers were successfully used to complement the vibrant colours of the buildings and garden of this Kloof property, fusing new and weathered materials into a harmonious blend, at one with nature.
Professional Team
Contractor : Paving Creations
Manufacturer : SmartStone KZN
Product Information: Magalies Pavers (Charcoal and Sandstone)
Judges’ Comments: Attention to detail creates an aesthetic blend with the surrounding environment. Good use of a non-slip product enhances safety.
CAPTION P2-11
Kensington Boulevard – Durban North
Category – Commercial & Community: shopping malls, market places, parking garages, building surrounds, roof paving, sidewalks, plazas (civic), station platforms, plazas and recreation areas, trim parks, parade grounds, fire stations and helicopter pads.
Kensington Boulevard shopping mall complex in Durban, where a permeable paving block drainage system, Aquaflow, has been installed. The system limits rain water run-off and flooding by collecting and storing the water. Excess run-off from the mall’s car park and building roofs is harvested and stored in a holding tank and then gradually released into the municipal drainage system. Water which passes through the Aquaflow system is cleaned naturally by filtration and microbial action, making it more suitable for the watering of plants than tap water.
Professional Team
Architect: EPA
Engineer: ARUP
Quantity Surveyor: Schoombie Hartman
Contractor: Model Contracting
Manufacturer: Concor Technicrete – Evander
Product Information
Concor Aqua Trojan square (Tan) 160 x 160 x 60mm.
Judges’ Comments
An innovative block paving system with crisp detailing and trafficable areas.
CAPTION P3-1
Bond Store – Southgate Industrial Park, Umbogintwini
Category - Industrial: industrial hard-standing areas, building surrounds, exhibition areas, parking garages, roof parking, bus stations, vehicle depots, airport taxi-ways, container terminals, off-ramps and farmyard paving.
Equivalent to 30 rugby fields, this 193 000m² imported vehicle bond storage yard was paved with over nine million Corolock Interlocking Roadstones, chosen for their functional and hard-wearing attributes. This is the single largest paving contract to be undertaken as a continuous operation in KwaZulu-Natal, and during construction, a surface area of 950m² was laid, cut and compacted on a daily basis.
Professional Team
Developer: Giuricich Developments
Engineer: Liebenberg & Stander (JHB)
Contractor: Grinaker LTA Roads and Earthworks
Sub-Contractors Concept Paving and Sun Paving
Manufacturer: Corobrik
Product Information
Corolock Interlocking Roadstones (Grey) 200 x 100 x 60mm (25Mpa).
Judges’ Comments
A functional and pragmatic paving application.
CONCRETE ROOF TILES
T4-1 and T5-2
Caption T4-1
Riverside Club/Varsity College – Durban North
Category - Commercial & Community: shopping complexes, office blocks, hotels, clinics, schools, prisons and churches.
This project entailed accommodating the Independent Institute of Education’s Varsity College (VC) into the Glenwood Old Boys (GOB) premises. GOB’s existing premises were old and needed a cash injection and VC required premises with sporting facilities, which GOB had.
The architects were asked to blend the architecture of the existing GOB clubhouse and ancillary buildings with the VC brand. This proved particularly difficult as the GOB clubhouse had a complicated mix of single and double-storey construction, steep roof pitches, and several lean-tos, add-ons, and fill-ins, which had been built to generate additional space.
Both parties wanted to retain the pitched roof aesthetic, and terracotta Marley Double Roman roof tiles were selected to provide colour uniformity for the multi-phased development as well as for any future additions.
A decision to match the clubhouse’s roof pitch of 45° was taken in order to prevent a complete roof rebuild. However, had a 45º pitch roof been erected without adjustments, it would have reached a height almost equal to the double storey façade, thereby resulting in an appearance which was decidedly top-heavy. To avoid this, the VC roof was double-pitched by adding an internal box gutter at mid-span. This reduced the height of the roof and yielded a more pleasing, better proportioned result.
Professional Team
Architect: Miles Pennington
Quantity Surveyor: McIntosh Latilla
Contractor: Armstrong Construction
Manufacturer: Marley Roofing – KZN
Product information
60 000 Marley Double Roman M22 (Terracotta) roof tiles.
Judges’ Comments
An innovative and neat solution.
Caption T5-2
Crawford Pre-Primary – La Lucia
Regional Winner Coastal
Category – Vintage: any roof tile product in its original form older than 10 years.
Marley’s Double Roman concrete roof tile in amber was chosen by the school because it blends in well with the surrounding terrain, which is part of a conservation area. The tile’s light earthy colour also complements the exterior wall finishes. Ten years on, the roof of this modern pre-primary school looks as good as new.
Professional Team
Architect: Julian Michaels
Engineer: S.K.H.
Contractor: Group Five, KZN
Manufacturer: Marley Roofing, KZN
Product Information
14 000 Marley Double Roman Roof Tiles (Standard Amber).
Judges’ Comments
The tiles have weathered well.
CONCRETE RETAINING BLOCK WALLS
R3-6
Caption R3-6
Edge of The Sea - Umhlanga
Category – Retaining Wall Elements - Vintage: any retaining wall product in its original form older than 10 years.
Stretching over two-and-a-half kilometres, this Waterloffel seawall forms part of the Umhlanga Ocean Walk, which runs from Durban View in the south to The Breakers in the north. First completed in 1993, new wall sections were added to the main beach in 2007 to retain portions of an unprotected coastal dune and to repair parts of the existing seawall.
The ends of the seawall were damaged during massive cyclonic seas in March 2007, when huge waves devastated the coastline and a national disaster was declared. However, 85% of the seawall withstood the onslaught, and only the ends, where there was no capping, incurred damage.
This seawall is designed to incorporate a modern beach amenities centre, a life saver tower, a rescue boat launching ramp, a grassed entertainment area, a restaurant, a covered amphitheatre and steps to the beach with built-in showers.
Professional Team
Engineer: City Engineers Unit, in collaboration with INFRASET/Kaytech
Contractor: Advanced Retaining and Paving Systems
Manufacturer: INFRASET
Product information
INFRASET WL650 Waterloffel (Grey)
Judges’ Comments
Damage to the wall could have been avoided had the ends been capped. The wall was well repaired, although there was a slight colour variation. The wall is fit for purpose, and by surviving the natural disaster, demonstrated its design integrity.
INNOVATIVE CONCRETE PRODUCTS
i3-5
Caption i3-5
Moses Mabhida Stadium - Durban
Regional Winner – Coastal
Category – Innovative Products: other innovative concrete products showing ingenuity.
Straight and raking precast concrete columns were used for the construction of the Moses Mabhida Soccer Stadium. The façade incorporates cast-in-situ columns with anchor bolts up to level 3.
Precast concrete columns, comprising a stub at the base and an upper section, were placed above the in-situ columns. Steel base plates on the stub columns were custom-designed and fabricated on site to correct any discrepancies in the anchor bolts.
At 15m long and weighing up to 65 tons each, the columns were manufactured on site to exact specifications and tight dimensional tolerances. A total of 30 raked columns of varying skew angles and 200 straight columns were deployed. The weight of the straight columns held them in place, whereas the raking columns were further secured by means of a push-pull tie on the field side of the bowl. The ties were removed after the upper slab, which was tied back to the column, was in position.
Through careful calculation, using a small working model for demonstration purposes, it was determined that if the precast concrete columns were lifted slightly above the centre of gravity, they would be aligned for positioning onto the stub column.
Once the columns were correctly positioned and bolted down, the splice slabs were shuttered and filled with concrete, and the gaps grouted. The completed columns were topped by steel caps. These support ring beams which transfer the vertical and high horizontal forces off the roof.
Professional Team
Architect: BKS/Group Five Design and Planning
Consulting Engineer: BKS
Quantity Surveyor: Ibhola Lethu Consortium
Contractor: A joint venture comprising Group Five, WBHO, and Pandev
Manufacturer: Group Five, WBHO, Pandev
Product Information
104 Precast concrete columns and raking columns (approximately 50 different types)
Judges’ Comments
Innovative engineering saved construction time and produced an aesthetic product.
-Ends-
DATE : October, 2008
ISSUED BY : David Beer Communication Consultants
FOR : Concrete Manufacturers Association
ENQUIRIES : John Cairns (011) 805-6742
David Beer (011) 888-9467 or 082-880-6726. Email bigsky@ibi.co.za
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