Exxaro head office showcases geotechnical expertise
SA Building Review|Volume 8 2020
Challenging dolomitic ground conditions at the site of the new Exxaro head offices for Growthpoint Properties in Centurion, Pretoria, resulted in infrastructure company AECOM collaborating closely with AMA Architects to optimise the building design.
Exxaro head office showcases geotechnical expertise
AECOM was responsible for the structural, civil, geotechnical and quantity surveying aspects of the project. The earthworks contract was completed by Stefanutti Stocks Geotechnical, while the raft and first suspended floors were cast by main contractor WBHO.

‘In terms of the architecture, we had to reshape the building design to account for the ground conditions. We ended up with 16 different variations of the initial format of the building shape compared to the underlying ground conditions. The challenge was to mitigate the risk in the most cost-effective manner possible,’ AECOM executive for Structures, Buildings and Places. Kim Timm (PrEng) explains.

Award-winning design

AECOM’s involvement with the project resulted in it being awarded the AfriSam Innovation Award for Sustainable Construction at the Construction World Best Projects Awards 2019, at a gala banquet at the Rand Club in Johannesburg on 6 November.

It also won the >R250 million project award category at the CESA Excellence Awards 2019.

Sites underlain by dolomite rock are prone to sinkhole formation. The Lakeside site was specified as a D4 site with Inherent Hazard Class 8 Dolomite. The site had four known cavity locations that could potentially produce 15-metre-wide sinkholes. Hence, an expert reviewer was required by the Council for Geoscience to verify AECOM’s geotechnical solution.

This story is from the Volume 8 2020 edition of SA Building Review.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the Volume 8 2020 edition of SA Building Review.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM SA BUILDING REVIEWView All
Reinventing traditional safari-style architecture
SA Building Review

Reinventing traditional safari-style architecture

The new Cheetah Plains game lodge in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve in the Kruger National Park in South Africa, reinvents traditional safari-style architecture to create an altogether new safari experience of nature from within.

time-read
4 mins  |
Volume 8 2020
Westbury Transformation Development Centre
SA Building Review

Westbury Transformation Development Centre

Can social justice be found through friendly and inclusive design? We think so. The Westbury Transformation Development Centre (TDC) project grapples with the issue of spatial and social justice in a marginalised community.

time-read
3 mins  |
Volume 8 2020
The 1054 – a pavilion to the street edge
SA Building Review

The 1054 – a pavilion to the street edge

The 1054, strategically named after the property’s ERF number, firmly places itself on Main Road, Walmer, as a pavilion to the street edge. Main Road has been established, as part of Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s Spatial Development Framework Plan, as a new business precinct within the bay and is expanding rapidly. Although business is growing along this main feeder route, many houses have merely been face-lifted with a false façade that has really watered down the potential for the strip.

time-read
2 mins  |
Volume 8 2020
Rebuilding trust is key to turning around struggling construction industry, says Minister
SA Building Review

Rebuilding trust is key to turning around struggling construction industry, says Minister

A growing trust deficit between the government and the private sector threatens to derail efforts to turn around the struggling construction sector, but government is intensifying its efforts to build meaningful relationships with the industry. This is according to the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Patricia de Lille, speaking at the 118th Annual General Meeting of the Master Builders and Allied Trades’ Association of the Western Cape (MBAWC).

time-read
2 mins  |
Volume 8 2020
Giving more than it gets
SA Building Review

Giving more than it gets

To expand its physical footprint, MDA Attorneys acquired and rebuilt their office on a prominent site on the corner of West and Riviera in Houghton. Green principles were key from the outset; and yet the results, which include a Net Zero Carbon pilot certification, surpassed all expectations. Here’s how the process unfolded...

time-read
3 mins  |
Volume 8 2020
Pickwick transitional housing
SA Building Review

Pickwick transitional housing

The City of Cape Town with its partners is steering a precinct-based approach to the delivery of affordable rental in the Woodstock and Salt River area close to the CBD. This involves multifaceted rental housing projects aimed at improving the lives of Cape Town’s disenfranchised residents.

time-read
2 mins  |
Volume 8 2020
Exxaro head office showcases geotechnical expertise
SA Building Review

Exxaro head office showcases geotechnical expertise

Challenging dolomitic ground conditions at the site of the new Exxaro head offices for Growthpoint Properties in Centurion, Pretoria, resulted in infrastructure company AECOM collaborating closely with AMA Architects to optimise the building design.

time-read
3 mins  |
Volume 8 2020