Construction World November 2023

BUILDING

CONCOR TAKES EASTGATE TO NEW LEVELS OF SUSTAINABILITY Eastgate Shopping Centre is harnessing more power from the sun, conserving water and saving energy through a multi-pronged project to enhance sustainability – executed by leading black-owned contractor Concor.

T he project, which forms part of Liberty Two Degrees' sustainability journey to Net Zero, is upgrading three vital elements of the centre’s facilities: an additional 5,74 MW of solar power, the harvesting of rainwater and the installation of a more efficient heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) system. Martin Muller, Contract Manager at Concor, tells Construction World that the work is being conducted in a live environment, so it is vital to ensure minimal disruption to shoppers and tenants alike. “Concor is leveraging our extensive experience in live shopping centre contracts, where we apply the highest standards of workmanship within tight timelines, while still allowing trading to continue,” says Muller. “Our client – the shopping centre owner - is assured that their shoppers will continue to experience the centre positively, so they remain loyal patrons into the future.” The extension of the solar energy facilities at Eastgate involves the addition of 30,000 square metres of structural steel to support photovoltaic (PV) panels over the rooftop parking area. The steelwork is mounted on concrete columns, and comprises a grid of girders and trusses connected with knee braces and purlins – creating dome shaped structures over large areas of parking space. From a design perspective, these match the existing domes of solar panels installed in Eastgate’s first phase of solar energy

generation. One of main constraints of the project is the load bearing capacity of the shopping centre roof, Concor Site Agent Justin de Villiers, explains. If the project was executed on ground level, the contractor would usually use heavy equipment like mobile cranes or tower cranes to lift, move and hoist material on the site. “In this case, the rooftop slabs would not bear the load of this kind of equipment, so all material has to be delivered as close as possible to its point of use – and then moved in smaller batches,” De Villiers says. “A good example is how this has affected the way we move and pour the readymix concrete required for the multiple concrete columns supporting the steelwork.” With the 460 by 460 mm concrete columns reaching between 4,2 and 8,3 metres in height, the conventional approach would have been to use a mobile crane or telehandler to move and pour the concrete into the formwork. The innovative solution being applied under the conditions at Eastgate Shopping Centre involves using a series of conveyor belts in conjunction with special scaffolding – designed in conjunction with Concor’s in-house engineers. “Using a chain block with our engineered scaffolds, we can lift the 13 metre conveyor belts – weighing 350 to 400 kg each – to their required heights,” he explains.

28 CONSTRUCTION WORLD NOVEMBER 2023