Construction World June 2015

PROJECTS AND CONTRACTS

Walter van der Linde, project manager and mechanical engineer in Royal HaskoningDHV’s specialised cleanrooms division explained that there are very few design specialists in the country capable of meeting the exacting specifications required for BSL 3 graded laboratories and ISO 3 cleanrooms in South Africa – Royal HaskoningDHV being one of them. “The contract involved the design and site supervision of an ISO 3 Cleanroom, a BSL 3 Laboratory and manufacturing lab for rapid diagnostic devices including all mechanical, electrical, lab layout and structural services. “The electrical services included the lighting, electrical reticulation to support the mechanical equipment, the switched socket outlets and power supply to the general lab equipment. Various services are supported by UPS and generator power,” he explained. The mechanical services included the Environmental Control System, the UDAFs (Uni-directional Airflow), Autoclave, the effluent system, the fumigation pass-through hatch, wet and gas services and the bio-safety cabinets. “The cleanrooms team was also responsible for the lab layout and specifying the partitioning type and the shell of the clean rooms and bio safety laboratory. Input from our structural engineers was required to design the platforms which supported the Air Handling Unit (AHU), Safe Change Filter Housing and the Exhaust Fans,” he added. Energy efficiency and sustainability were uppermost in our designer’s mind • The smallest required amount of fresh air is introduced to the AHUs in order to pressurise the laboratories while meeting the National Building Regulations. • The laboratories are sealed to ensure that there are no unintentional conditioned air leaks. • Insulated Chromadek panelling serves as the partitioning and walls of the laboratories. “The specialised nature of cleanroom design means that within an existing facility, there are bound to be challenges to overcome and the Mintek installation was no different in this regard,” said Van der Linde. “The available plant space was limited to start with and this was a challenging issue which we resolved with the help of our structural engineers who designed the two platforms.” A new R13-million ISO 3 Cleanroom and BSL3 Laboratory was recently completed by consultants Royal HaskoningDHV for Mintek in Johannesburg. The facility will allow for the rapid development and production of diagnostic devices that are capable of diagnosing illnesses such as malaria in its early stages. Early diagnosis and subsequent treatment is a crucial life saver for those afflicted and is a major step forward in disease control for the country. > and features incorporated in the Mintek design include: • Chillers with a high coefficient of performance. MINTEK LAB WILL HELP COMBAT DEADLY DISEASES