Construction World December 2016

Special Mention

KAALFONTEIN SECONDARY SCHOOL

A nutrition building, with a kitchen and storage area, from which school pupils receive one nutritious meal a day. All of these structures were built using traditional, strong foundations onto which the external façade and roofs were built using modular components. Despite its rapid delivery, this method of construction gives rise to a durable structure that requires little maintenance and has a long lifespan. The project was split into four phases corresponding to work on each of the four blocks. Following the completion of each phase, pupils were immediately taken out of their old mobile classrooms and shifted into the new buildings. With this in mind the contractor had to exercise extreme care to minimise dust, noise and make the area ready after each phase – to ensure a comfortable transition. The old classrooms were in a terrible state of disrepair and moving the children into their new premises as soon as possible was a priority. Despite these challenges, through extensive forward planning and in close consultation with the school, Kwikspace was able to deliver a new school for Kaalfontein, in record time, without disruption to learners. Creating a design for the school that incorporated all of the new facilities, on the triangular footprint of land was challenging, but it inspired us to develop an ingenuitive new double story solution that we can now roll out on other projects. Wherever possible, Kwikspace tries to leave a positive impact on the communities that surround its works. During construction 95 local community jobs were created and five local subcontractors were employed to provide paving, plumbing, electrical, security, landscaping and construction support. The site team realised that, in order to install the school’s sewer connection line, they would need to demolish a neighbouring resident’s existing corrugated iron home, which was sitting directly on top of the connection. In close consultation with the resident, the team brought down the existing structure quickly and replaced it with a structurally superior modular building with strong traditional foundations.

The scope of works consisted of the construction of 32 classrooms, 10 ablutions, an administration building, a nutrition centre and additional landscaping works. Faced with a challenging project deadline and a tight budget, Kwikspace came up with an innovative solution that enabled them to deliver the new school, and accommodate 1 468 learners, in just 109 days – less than 1/3 rd of the time that it would take using conventional brick and mortar construction. An irregular site footprint meant that Kwikspace had to conceptualise an innovative new design to maximise the space available at the school. It was decided that, along with three single storey blocks, a double story building would be required to make efficient use of the space. To create a sturdy double storey structure it was determined that concrete floors would be required on the ground and first floors – a first for modular construction. First a steel structural frame was assembled, using prefabricated steel components, and then prefabricated concrete blocks were craned into place on the frame to form the ground and first floors. The remaining components were assembled around the frame to form the shell and façade of the new school building. All the components used, including the wall panels, windows, doors, roofs and the frame were prefabricated and transported to Kaalfontein for assembly. Along with the innovative double story school building, Kwikspace provided three single storey blocks, one of which was approximately 94 m long and held 10 classrooms. In another first for modular construction, the ablutions were incorporated into the classroom block, in the centre, rather than as a separate building, which is the standard design of modular schools. An adminstrative unit was supplied for members of staff which included a built in strong room, which Kwikspace created using double thick polyurethane wall panels with reinforced bars. According to a survey commissioned by the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) in 2015, 533 of the 1 856 schools in the province were overcrowded. To address the urgent requirement for new classrooms, the GDE awarded Kwikspace Modular Buildings a R25-million contract to build a new school for Kaalfontein Secondary School using alternative building methods.

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Project information • Company entering: Kwikspace Modular Buildings (Kwikspace) • Client: Gauteng Department of Education • Start date: 1 October 2015 • End date: 1 February 2016 • Main contractor: Kwikspace Modular Buildings • Principal agent: Gauteng Deparement of Education • Quantity surveyor: Kwikspace • Project value: R25-million

2 16 BEST PR O JECTS

DECEMBER • 2016