That South African architects and engineers have the ability to build aesthetic steel structures becomes increasingly apparent at the yearly Southern African Institute of Steel Construction (Saisc) Steel Awards, its 2014 convenor Spencer Erling says.

The awards took place in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban on September 18, 2014, with the Malapa Fossil excavation site at the Cradle of Humankind, situated north-west of Johannesburg, receiving the accolades for overall winner. “It is the first time, since I have managed the Steel Awards process, that the overall winner has ticked so many boxes as to why the project represents excellence in the use of steel,” says Erling.

The brief for the excavation site was to build a removable structure over the dig site to protect the site and the exposed fossils from the elements. It had to also blend in with its surroundings.

“The judges noted that the determination of the construction team, the quality of its work and the fact that it left the site almost as it found it, were among the factors that made it obvious that this project represents excellence in the use of steel for every possible reason,” Erling points out.

The architect for the project was architectural company Krynauw Nel Associates, the structural engineer was engineering company Peter Fellows Consulting and the steelwork contractor was specialist spiral screw materials handling company Spiral Engineering.

Meanwhile, the architectural category was won by No 1 Silo, which is part of the first phase in the Silo precinct development of the V&A Waterfront, in Cape Town. The ten-storey development consists of an east and a west wing built on two levels of a megabasement covering the whole site.

Structural steelwork provides slender support to the facades, walkways, bridges, lifts and feature stairs, while economically extending the cantilevers of the conventional post-tensioned slabs framing the atrium.

The project architects were architectural firm Rick Brown & Associates and design firm Van der Merwe Miszewski Architects. Structural engineering practice GR Sutherland Associates was the structural engineer, and structural steelwork manufacturer Anchor Steel Projects the steelwork contractor.

The Tugela pedestrian bridge, situated in the Msinga area of rural KwaZulu-Natal, won the bridge category. The judges commented that the bridge “merits an award in view of its portrayal of the benefits that technical solutions and efficient design using structural steel can bring to rural communities faced with dangerous natural barriers, which adversely affect their everyday lives”.

Engineering firm GDB Engineers oversaw structural engineering in the project, while industrial steel chimney solutions provider Steelcon was the steelwork contractor.

The 134 m structural steel suspension bridge over the 8-m-deep Tugela river, at KwaJolwayo, upstream of the Tugela Ferry, has resulted in a life-changing, safe crossing option for communities on both sides of the river, enabling them to access commercial and educational opportunities that were previously inaccessible, particularly during the summer months, Erling notes.

The corporate office building category was won by 30 Jellicoe, situated in the Rosebank central business district, in northern Johannesburg.

The judges said that slenderness and proportion of the tapered tubular steel columns gives the building an elegant aesthetic that sets it apart from its neighbours.

The building’s roof is supported on the slender steel columns and appears to sail over its white north wall. The wall and its horizontal window lines depend on the steel structure for stability.

The architect on the project was architectural design firm
Paragon Architects and the structural engineer was structural, civil and facade engineering company Pure Consulting. The steelwork contractor was structural steelwork manufacturer Omni Struct Nkosi.

The light steel frame building (LSFB) category was won by fast food outlet McDonald’s, which entered its outlets, including those situated in Rustenburg, Somerset West, Tembisa and East London. The judges said these buildings displayed excellence in the use of light steel framing. “McDonald’s buildings meet the criteria for winning the LSFB category, which is energy efficient buildings that also demonstrate speed of construction,” Erling adds.

Architecture and urban design firm Architectural Design Associates was the architect on the project, while steel framing solutions provider Silverline Group Engineering was the structural engineer. The steelwork contractor was construction company Techomes Construction and steel frame building systems provider Innosteel.

Platinum mining company Wesizwe Platinum’s Bakubung platinum mine headgear won the mining and industrial category. The structure, which had project delivery and consulting services company WorleyParsons as the structural engineer, consists of a frame designed to resist horizontal and vertical wind loads, three sheave levels with the upper level at 72 m above the bank and a 14 m centre tower between the bank and the underside of the sheave levels.

To achieve a quick and safe completion of the steel erection, done by engineering steelwork fabrication and erection company Louwill Engineering, the engineering team planned and assembled large assemblies on the ground, and a 1 100 t crane was used to lift the large assemblies, with masses of up to 235 t. “Our judges had no doubt that this headgear is a classic example of excellence in the use of steel,” Erling says.

Mining major Glencore’s Rosh Pinah Zinc Corporation, in Lüderitz, Namibia, won the factory and warehouse category for its zinc and lead storage warehouse. This 90 m × 67 m building is surrounded on four sides by buttressed concrete retaining walls.

The design not only took into account normal gravity and wind loads but also considered numerous accidental load issues, such as the effect of the front-end loaders driving into a retaining wall/buttress, as well as the possibility of the bucket at full height impacting on the roof trusses. “It is great to be able to give recognition to a project beyond the borders of South Africa in a neighbouring country,” Erling says.

The architect as well as structural engineer in the project was structural engineering company Krenz Consulting Engineers, with steel company Pro-Edge being the steelwork contractor.

“The quality of the entries improves each year and this year was no different,” he concludes.