ON THE COVER:
The busy N7 highway on the west coast of the Western Cape province will soon be even safer when H&I Construction completes the Van Schoorsdrif interchange about 15 km north of Cape Town’s suburb of Milnerton.
This project removes one of the last at-grade intersections on the N7, which have increasingly presented a safety hazard as the fast two-lane highway becomes increasingly well-used by commuters, tourists and industry. Commissioned by the Western Cape Department of Infrastructure, the safety improvement project includes 5 km of greenfields road and six bridge structures, Willem Olivier, Contracts Manager for H&I Construction, explains.
Celebrate innovation, resilience and sustainable excellence
For more than two decades, Construction World magazine’s Best Projects Awards has been a proud champion of excellence, craftsmanship and innovation in the built environment. Since its inception in 2002, these annual awards have recognised the very best in South Africa’s construction, civil engineering, and design industries. Now in its 24th consecutive year, the 2025 edition once again showcased the sector’s remarkable resilience, technical brilliance, and commitment to sustainable progress.
This year’s competition drew 65 entries across six categories: Civil Engineering Contractors, Building Contractors, Specialist Contractors, Specialist Suppliers, Consulting Engineers and Architects. In addition, the prestigious AfriSam Innovation Award for Sustainable Construction - one of the first awards of its kind in South Africa - honoured projects that successfully balanced people, planet and performance.
Despite ongoing economic pressures and a decade of industry challenges, the 2025 judges noted a strong sense of optimism running through the entries. “The industry is very much alive and bubbling under,” the judging panel concluded, commending the smaller yet highly sophisticated projects that demonstrate world-class innovation and resilience.
The judging panel comprised a team of seasoned professionals: Uwe Putlitz, retired professional architect and project manager; Hanlie Turner, retired business development manager in the cement and concrete sector; Musa Shangase, Immediate Past President of Master Builders South Africa; and Petra Devereux, Executive Director of Master Builders Western Cape and a national board member. Together, they evaluated entries not only for their technical and aesthetic merit but also for their creativity, sustainability, and problem-solving ingenuity.
Chryso was the big winner of this year’s Best Projects Awards – seven projects that used its products were given awards.