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December 2015
Industry Buzz, Events & Products
T
he project entailed building a
new four-storey commercial
office block in Nieuw-Muck-
leneuk for developers, Duncharl
Investments. The Tram Street build-
ing provides floor space of about
1 200m² on a stand of 1 276m² in the
built up precinct.
JC van der Linde & Venter Projects
Contracts Director, Stefan van Wyk,
says that the main challenge was the
restricted access to the Tram Street
site. “Access was so limited that we
made use of a self-erecting tower
crane, which folds into sections when
being prepared for transport, and
then erected on site for construction
work.” Other challenges included
poor soil conditions, which required
piles at an average depth of 7 m to
provide suitable foundation for the
column footings.
Jeremie Malan Architects had
specified state-of-the-art Agrob
Buchtal Plural Plus stoneware tiles,
which had to be imported from Ger-
many. This meant that importation
schedules had to accurately match
construction requirements to avoid
disruptions in building work.
Van Wyk adds: “Our construction
programme was co-ordinated to
allow for the installation of a lift in
the four-storey structure. As the new
office block is adjacent a residential
area, noisy construction activities
were prohibited after 5pm.”
A total of 720 cubic metres of
concrete at a strength of 30MPa was
usedwith Class 1 formwork to ensure
superior surface finishes.
The compact plan included verti-
cal extension up to the limit of height
restrictions. The main building mass
is elevated off ground level by col-
umns, to create space for parking
underneath the building without the
need for a basement. The concrete
columns are expressed as vertical
fins on the elevations with a fair-face
finish. The design features include a
vertically emphasised glazed stair-
case and concrete lift shaft which
forms the services core of the build-
ing. The vertical core effectively links
the ground floor parking level with
three storeys of offices and roof space
for informal events. “Each floor has
lettable office space on either side of
the core. This configuration allows for
tenant flexibility, as the two office ar-
eas per floor can function separately
or as one unit. The layout allows for
open plan or dry walling to suit ten-
ants’ requirements,” says Malan.
The custom designed irrigated
planter boxes have been spaced over
the north and south elevations.
Malan says the in-situ concrete
columns and flat floor slabs inside
the office ceiling voids leave opti-
mum space for services reticulation.
Galvanised steel members span
between the concrete fins to sup-
port window shading panels and
planter boxes.
“To minimise the cost and
sizeof the structural concrete
elements, a lightweight ex-
ternal walling system was
employed. It consists of
pre-coloured steel sheet-
ing to the outside, insula-
tion in the middle and
drywall boards on the in-
side: all fixed to lightweight
steel studs fixed between
the floor slabs. Window
opening widths of over
5 m have been achieved
without heavy concrete or
steel lintels. Flashing details
around windows and joints
are meticulously detailed.
The drywalling system
helped to speed up construction and
avoided the complications of wet
trades at heights,” says Malan.
The bulk of office windows are
orientated north or south and are
sheltered by expansive aluminium
filigree shading panels. Openings
on east or west façades are minimal
and fully protected by the aluminium
filigree panels over their full aperture.
The use of fair face concrete,
face brick, galvanised steel and pre-
coloured sheetingmakes for durable,
low-maintenance external finishes.
External plaster and paint is limited
to a feature wall at ground level.
■
273 Tram
Street
Pretoria Master Builders, JC van
der Linde & Venter Projects, have
completed a major contract for
the construction of a sustainable
new office block at 273 Tram
Street in Pretoria.