November 2013
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
15
Consulting engineering and project implementation firmHatchGoba has
been retained by Alfred Nzo District Municipality to conduct a feasibility
study for the provision of potable water to the communities of Ward
29 and 30 in mBizana, in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.
environment
OWNERANDDEVELOPER
of the building,
Johan Rosslee decided to revamp the build-
ing into a hotel to make the building more
commercially viable.
Due to the fact that the building pre-
sented a problem with the issue of load-
ing, the architect was set the challenge
of sourcing alternative building materials
that incorporated walling systems that are
lightweight and are able to optimise space
with specific acoustic properties.
John Deppe considered the options
available and made the decision to specify
Gyproc GypWall Soundbloc 70AS/F60S57,
a lightweight construction system that
limits the transmission of sounds as loud
as 57dB with a nominal wall thickness of
122 mm. The SoundBloc system incorpo-
rates a specifically manufactured light-
weight steel stud and track structure, and
glass wool insulation made from up to
80% recycled glass. The major contribut-
ing factor to the selection of this system
was the fact that due to its specifications
it allowed for the addition of four extra
rooms per floor.
“All materials that have been used in the
development of the hotel were selected
for their long term business benefits. While
the bottom line costs have been carefully
monitored, and actual development costs
are a little higher than anticipated, the fact
is that in 10 years’ time the running costs
of the building will be lower given the
energy efficient product choices we made,”
explains Rosslee.
The Hotel, whichwas recently completed,
has 45 rooms and is a Inn Green Hotel, which
is specified to use minimal electricity. To
this end, Gyproc RhinoBoard was used on
CURRENTLY, RESIDENTS OF MBIZANA
walk 5 km to 10 km daily to fetch water from
a river source which is polluted and largely
un-potable.
Hatch Goba has provided a costing analy-
sis and has proposed a scope that includes
various large concrete reservoirs located at
strategic positions along the pipeline, several
high-lift booster pump stations with break
pressure tanks, as well as a series of medium
to large diameter gravity and steel bulk ris-
ing mains. This project will consist of various
phases that will be determined by the project
manager in consultation with the client.
With the information provided by the
feasibility study the client hopes todetermine
the cost and extent of the bulk water and
reticulation infrastructure needed for Wards
29 and 30 in mBizana. The feasibility study
also provides a motivation for funding from
provincial and national government through
their existing funding schemes.
The Hatch Goba office in Umhlanga, Kwa-
Zulu-Natal, is working on the study, which
commenced in May 2013 and is expected to
be completed in February 2014.
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Potable water options studies
Old Secunda building
converted into a hotel
Pretoria based architect, John Deppe from Designing Stone Edge, was
commissioned to convert an old building into a hotel in Secunda, using
a range of innovative Saint-Gobain Gyproc products that, given their
unique qualities, have proved very beneficial and advantageous to
the building challenges and the overall energy efficiency of the project.
the inside perimeter of the building to
better regulate the interior temperatures.
“In addition, we have installed a sun water
systemthat uses no energy and solar panels
to generate energy. Even the televisions run
on no more than 40 watts of power,” adds
Rosslee. The building sets the standards
for future developments, which optimise
and specify the incorporation of energy ef-
ficient materials and systems that prescribe
to the current trend of developing sustain-
able buildings.
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