Kwikspace in South Africa which is a leader in prefabricated modular building solutions has delivered specialised site constructed fire-proof buildings to the Clanwilliam Dam site.
The dam, owned by the Department of Water Affairs, is a gravity dam that was built in 1935 and constructed from concrete to resist large volumes of water pressure. The dam wall is set to be raised by 13 metres and is one of South Africa’s largest projects set to be completed in a five year roll-out plan.
Kwikspace’s involvement has played an integral supporting role to the success of the larger Clanwilliam Dam project and has erected two main building structures comprising two pre-fabricated office blocks next to each other: the contractor’s block (952m²) with 40 offices and the engineer’s block (607 m²) providing 25 offices. The project includes five buildings in total, three of which are workshops with portal frames and sheeted cladding and roller shutter vehicle access doors.
The fire retardant feature of the buildings is comprised of panels that are manufactured with a magnesium oxide portion sandwiched between the outer panels. This provides a fire safety feature where, in the event of fire, the panels will resist burning for up to 30 minutes. All the walls are filled with insulating material and lined on the inside with approved materials.
The buildings will provide comfortable, air-conditioned office space with high quality finishes to engineering, design, management, administrative and construction supervision personnel. Attention to detail includes windows that were fitted with burglar proofing and mesh fly-screens, thermally insulated ceilings with air-conditioning/ heater units and flooring fitted to client specifications.
Solar geyser and energy saving electric installations and the planting of indigenous grasses were also part of the eco-friendly turnkey solution provided by Kwikspace. A special rainwater harvesting system was designed and implemented to supplement normal water supply to the offices. Local labour and semi-skilled personnel were employed throughout the course of the construction period.
Comments Kwikspace Executive Manager, Con de Villiers: “Our expertise in rapid site setups in remote locations has ensured that the two-and-a-half month on-site construction deadline was successfully met, all under challenging weather conditions and a severe sloping site.”
Kwikspace is ISO 9001 certified and conforms to the South African Bureaus of Standards (SABS) and SANS 10400 for all their building designs, unless otherwise specified by the client’s local standards.
