Construction World December 2016

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Building Contractors

MR PRICE DISTRIBUTION CENTRE

The distribution centre was just over 55 000 m 2 under roof in size, and included 45 000 m 2 of external concrete hardstands. One hundred and sixty wall panels were cast and erected to form 6 000 m 2 of precast walls. The wall elements was 10 m high and 5 m wide, and was installed as a single element, when the lifting started, vast areas of wall was erected in a day and up to 20 panels a day was achieved, which equates to about 1 000 m 2 a day. The ancillary buildings that was constructed consisted of a main office and change rooms, two sub-stations, a truckers node, a battery bay, a sprinkler and hydrant pump room, water harvest tanks, a concrete bridge, a perimeter water channel, a guard house, and canopies over the docking bays. Due to the vast size of the project and the tight programme, the Stefanutti Stocks Building KZN has constructed a new distribution Centre for Mr Price in Hammersdale, KwaZulu-Natal. The project consisted of two phases which was split into 11 months for construction and 12 months for the mechanical fit out which is not part of the contractor’s scope of works.

contractor split the distribution centre in half. Constructing it as two separate jobs to effectively shortened the construction time. The contractor started the structural concrete works in both zones at the same time followed by structural steel and so forth – in essence Stefanutti Stocks were running two projects concurrently on one site, which allowed them to make progress a lot faster than if we treated the distribution centre as one. What was different about this project was that there were three different sized columns for the entire job, all 10 m high – which aided the programme. The columns were cast in one lift, using special techniques in concrete segregation and vibrating, this enabled us to get the bolts in very quickly and commenced the next trade which was structural steel. The high tolerance floors for flatness were cast after the building was enclosed to prevent curling and the FM2 specification in accordance with TR34 was achieved successfully with only 2 m 2 in the whole facility that was 2 mm out of space. The contractor delivered the project in the 11 th month, on time, which had been a mammoth team effort. The project was also delivered within the required budget. The contractor employed local labour and upskilled them significantly, and further developed the skills by enrolling them into the Master Builders Associations emerging contractor programme where they developed their business acumen and helped them moved their business forward in the construction industry. The building has reverse curves in the roof for natural light, water harvesting and solar panels.

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Project information • Company entering: Stefanutti Stocks Building KZN • Client: Mr Price Group • Start date: July 2015. • End date: June 2016 • Main contractor: Stefanutti Stocks Building KZN • Architect: Paton Taylor Architects • Principal agent: Paton Taylor Architects • Project manager: Paton Taylor Architects • Quantity surveyor: Edgecombe & Hayes Hill • Consulting engineer: Arup • Subcontractor: Avellini-Impact JV • Subcontractor: Premier Concrete Floors

Construction WORLD

DECEMBER • 2016