Architect and Builder Apr/May 2018 | Page 7

NEWSWORTHY ROMANO SIGNS AND PSA MERGE Premier Sayina a manufacturer of branded Africa and (PSA), supplier corporate signage (PSA), and Romano Signs have merged, creating the largest corporate signage company in sub-Saharan Africa. Sean Rogers, managing director of PSA, said: “PSA and Romano CONCOR BUILDINGS DELIVERING FAST TRACK STUDENT ACCOMMODATION PROJECT Concor Buildings is synonymous with delivering fast track projects to the desired quality, on time and most importantly within budget. Martin Muller, contracts manager at Concor Buildings, ascribes this characteristic as one of the reasons why the company secured the contract to construct the new student housing accommodation in Streatley Avenue, Auckland Park. Being developed by Century Property Developments, The Campus, when completed at the end of 2018, will provide accommodation for 800 students predominantly from Wits and UJ. This will mitigate some of the shortages being experienced with student accommodation close to the tertiary education institutions. Designed with an industrial look and feel, The Campus is a four and six storey building with two basement levels. The multi-storey structure will house several communal areas including study rooms, computer labs, conference rooms, a games room and a gym facility. “Fast track projects are challenging at the best of times but with these logistical factors at play we have had to pay even more attention to detail in planning,” Muller says. “It is critical that materials are delivered at the correct time to the correct location as there is no space for the stockpiling of materials on site. This means delivery of all bulk materials must dovetail accurately with the construction programme.” He explains that during the detailed planning process, the team used resource linking to the various activities to ensure sufficient resources are available when and where needed. In this manner, the company has been able to mitigate most issues. “It is this level of planning and the control of information flow that makes a fast track project a success, and it also calls for close communication between the client, the professional team, us and the many sub-contractors that are on site,” Muller says. Construction work started in January this year and practical completion is targeted for November 2018. This will allow the finishing trades access to ready the apartments for occupation in early 2019. www.concor.co.za currently have the largest and most comprehensive manufacturing foot- print in the corporate signage industry in s ub-Saharan Africa with manufacturing facilities in both the Gauteng and the Western Cape. Rogers went on further to say that “PSA and Romano have, as part of their commitment to increasing their manufacturing capacity, invested in a new best- in-class manufacturing facility in the Cape into which the current Romano operations will relocate when it comes on stream in July 2018.” “The combined companies have localised service hubs in KwaZulu Natal and the Eastern Cape, and co-operative manufacturing arrangements on the east and west coasts of Africa. Our footprint will fully support our customers’ expansion into new markets,” he said. Mr Romano added: “The com- bining of the resources of PSA and Romano will see the business and our customers benefit from the enhanced industry expertise experience and embedded in our personnel in the technical, design, development, project management, manufacturing and operational teams.” News Watch 7