Construction World December 2017

2TEN HOTEL The new 2Ten Hotel in Sibasa, Limpopo, will add an additional 61 rooms to EMM Convention Centre’s sophisticated facilities. By August this year, the various trades had already started fitting out the superstructure, which has been built almost entirely from precast concrete elements. This is the largest project undertaken by the specialist contractor, to date.

Corestruc was appointed to undertake design, contract management and construction. Meanwhile, CoreSlab was tasked with the timely manufacturing of the many precast concrete items and CoreFleet entrusted with their swift dispatch from the precast plant in Polokwane and their optimal handling on site. The skills of Corehire were deployed to establish and dismantle the tower crane using its 160 ton mobile crane in its fleet. In addition to fulfilling the client’s brief for a durable and robust structure, a modular construction solution would help overcome the extremely congested site constraints. Situated in the heart of Sibasa, the project site neighbours another building expansion programme to the north and the existing conference centre to the right. Both structures are within close proximity of the site’s boundary. Adding to the complexity, the building contractor would have to access the site from the main driveway of the EMM Convention Centre. The contractor would therefore also have to mitigate as much as possible activities on daily EMM Convention Centre operations, as well as plan and co- ordinate its own activities around these. One of the many benefits of Corestruc’s systems is that it can be installed using very small teams. Corestruc’s installation team on this project comprised only five people, including the tower crane operator, with the lion’s share of the labour deployed at the precast plant in Limpopo where each individual item was accurately manufactured in a factory setting. Significant space was saved by eliminating the need to install and erect scaffolding. In addition to doing away with the need for large shuttering and form- work teams on site, Corestruc’s precast concrete system did away with the requirement for complex co-ordination of building material deliveries. The tower crane was positioned in the middle of the structure, providing adequate reach for the installation of the precast concrete items, starting with the columns and beams that make up each floor of the hotel. There was just enough space behind the building for the crane laydown area and items were thus carefully delivered on a strict just-in-time basis by CoreFleet. The

horse and trailers also had to be separated to allow the trailers to be manoeuvred around the crane. Limited space also added another level of complexity to the careful planning and ongoing co-ordination between Corestruc’s installation teams and the precast operations in Polokwane to ensure an optimal production rate on site. This is especially the case in the installation of the striking external façade of the structure, arguably the most complex aspect of the entire construction programme. As part of this aspect of the works programme, a total of 840 square metres of precast concrete wall panels and coping were accurately installed on the east, west and south walls of the structure. The interface between Corestruc and the specialist supplier to ensure an optimal work programme was already established during the design of the various items. Utmost accuracy at the batching plant was essential to avoid delaying the installation teams and to reduce wastage. Despite a slow start, accuracies of between two millimetres and three millimetres were eventually achieved by Corestruc’s installation teams on the facade. The outcome of this painstaking attention to detail is the continued and uninterrupted slender and elegant vertical and horizontal lines traversing the full length and width of the three external walls. The look is enhanced by the rounded chamfers, as well as smooth and silky finish of each precast concrete panel. • Company entering: Corestruc and Group Companies • Contract value: R23-million (Corestruc’s value) • Start date: June 2016 • End date: December 2017 • Project team: Paragon Architechts, VBL Consulting Engineers, Corestruc and Group Companies • Main contractor: Corestruc • Architect: Paragon • Project manager: Corestruc • Consulting engineer: VBL Consulting Engineers PROJECT INFORMATION

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