SASFA supplement May 2017

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SHOWCASE OF

EXCELLENCE

In 2008 a category for LSFB was established in the SAISC’s prestigious annual Steel Awards. Nothing emphasises more

the coming of age of light steel frame building in South Africa than the growing number of LSFB project entries for Steel Awards. In 2016, LSFB constituted a third of the number of all the entries for Steel Awards. This overview of the winner/s of each year illustrates the divergent range of excellent projects.

Antigua Estate in Amanzimtoti was named the winner in the Light Steel Frame Building Category of the 2008 Steel Awards. Typifying light steel frame construction’s excellent attributes, Antigua Estate demonstrated why this revolutionary building system was fast becoming as recognised a building solution in South Africa. Antigua Estate is ideally situated, with a view of the sea in the distance on the one side and the rolling hills of Kwazulu-Natal on the other. Started in August 2006, the development was completed in mid-2010. While similar in many respects to other luxury developments in the vicinity, Antigua, through its extensive use of light steel framing, is a development with a difference. The total floor area added up to 19 800 m², averaging about 300 m² per house. It required 6 000 linear metres of light steel sections per unit, totaling 240 000 linear metres. Some 200 tons of steel was used for all the wall frames and trusses. The developer’s decisions about how to build, clad and insulate the houses reflected their quest for top end quality and they reported that compared with similar up- market finishes in houses built using more conventional methods, steel frame houses are only slightly less expensive than brick and mortar, but extensive savings are made in labour and speed of construction. The judges were astounded by the fact that it is possible to complete a 250 m 2 double-storey upmarket house in only 22 working days. AMANZIMTOTI HOUSING ESTATE

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SASFA SUPPLEMENT 2017