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R500m invested in centralised business campus

1st February 2013

  

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Industrial gases and welding group Afrox will undertake its biggest project yet in South Africa when it invests R500-million to relocate its Durban operations to a new centralised business campus at agroprocessing company Tongaat Hulett’s new Cornubia Industrial and Business Estate, near Umhlanga and the King Shaka International Airport.

The 111 000 m2 site, recently bought by the company, will be developed in phases, the first of which is expected to break ground in mid-2013, follow- ing the finalisation of the environmental impact assessment (EIA).

The project is expected to be a benchmark for Afrox’s parent company, The Linde Group’s industrial gases operations worldwide. Owing to the modern hi-tech design and process flow of the site, it is geared specifically towards efficiency and cost effectiveness, which is aimed at benefiting customers and market sectors as a whole, reveals Afrox MD Brett Kimber.

“This is about meeting the needs of customers and recognising and applying market trends to the best benefit of all stakeholders by using eco-friendly designs and technologies,” he says.

The new facility will accommodate Afrox’s existing industrial and medical gases filling operations, currently located at Maydon Wharf, and two other operations presently based in Pinetown and Seaview.

“A factor that influenced this investment is the imminent redevelopment of the Port of Durban’s infrastructure, which includes major reconstruction activities at Maydon Wharf, where we have been conducting our industrial and medical gas filling activities for many years,” says Kimber.

Owing to the phased nature of the project, construction of the Afrox campus will take place over an extended period and as much labour and as many contracting services as possible will be recruited locally. Engineering, design and installation of plant will be done in-house by Afrox, which will be assisted by technical experts from The Linde Group.

The new plant is expected to be the most advanced facility of its kind and will be Afrox’s largest filling site in Africa, filling an average of 5 000 cylinders a day, with the capacity to increase production by up to 40%.

Said Kimber:

“As the second-largest metropole in South Africa, Durban has grown consistently faster over the past five years than any other region and our new facility, consolidating our core industrial and medical gas products, will ideally position us to energetically pursue business growth in the local business sectors.”


The project’s EIA is now in the public participation phase and is being conducted by Durban-based environmental, health, safety, risk and social consulting service Environmental Resources Management.

Phase 1 of the project involves the construction of the industrial and medical gas filling plant and a dissolved acetylene production plant. This will be followed by a liquefied petroleum gas plant and premises for Afrox’s Cus- tomer Engineering Services division.

An Afrox Gas & Gear retail outlet will also operate from the new site and space has been allocated for the eventual erection of an air separation unit on the site.

Architects Peter Rich & Associates have been tasked with designing a campus that is both energy and environmentally efficient and, to this end, the orientation of the buildings will ensure optimal use of natural light and prevailing wind to reduce the need for artificial light, heating and cooling.

Solar shelving will be incorporated over windows in the administrative buildings to reduce the heat gain and shade direct sun, thereby reducing the need to further shield natural light, while high-efficiency, low-energy fluorescent lighting will supplement natural light.

Windows will be double glazed to further limit heat gain or heat loss. These buildings will be designed to reduce the load on conventional air conditioning systems and the use of heat pumps and solar panels for water heating are envisaged to replace the conventional inefficient geyser system.

Edited by Tracy Hancock
Creamer Media Contributing Editor

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