CASE STUDY : USE OF GKD OMEGA MESH ON THE FAÇADE INSTALLATION OF STATSSA
Architect ’ s Brief The initial brief from the architects was to use the GKD Omega stainless steel mesh to add to the aesthetics of the façade design of the new StatsSA Head Office as well as provide solar shading . The mesh was chosen in order to wrap the building in an almost seamless , continuous façade .
In order to create a unique look not seen before , the mesh façade was designed to incorporate a numerical pattern that wound its way around the building , to echo the work done within the building by StatsSA . As this was a new concept , various methods of incorporating a pattern onto the mesh were investigated . These included sand blasting and painting of the design but these techniques did not produce the more 3D effect that the client requested . As a result , a solution was found making use of punched stainless steel ‘ buttons ’ and GKD was tasked with making up samples using a variety of ‘ buttons ’ to create the desired effect . As a result of the addition of the buttons , the original mesh specification changed from Omega 1520 to Omega 1530 to provide slightly wider gaps within the mesh to facilitate attachment of the buttons . The mesh was opened up slightly and the aperture changed to allow for the fixing of the buttons , using an M3 fixing .
Challenges Due to the continuous changing of the radius on the building façade it made it very difficult to fix and align each mesh panel to create the seamless effect required . Each fixing bracket was marginally different to accommodate the change in radius and offsets and over
70 different types of brackets of varying sizes were required . In a standard mesh façade installation approximately 6 bracket sizes are used so this gives an idea of the complexity of this particular project . As this installation produced unique challenges , new fixing brackets also had to be designed to allow for the tensioning of the system . At some points the offset from the slab was as much as 1.4m . The top of the mesh was also higher than the upstand by ± 250mm and the bottom of the mesh was ± 1.4m lower than the 1st floor slab .
Another challenge was the aligning of the pattern . The pattern is repeated approximately every 16.4m however the general mesh panel widths were either 5m , on the drum or 6m on the other façades . Therefore the pattern didn ’ t match any of the standard panel widths and it was very challenging to align the buttons consistently from mesh panel to mesh panel to allow for continuity of the design .
Installation Six various templates were made up in order to be able to mark out in the factory the specific position of the 480,000 buttons on the 41 different mesh panels , prior to the mesh being delivered to site . The buttons were made up in two size and two colour variations . The panels were lifted very slowly to allow the installers time to attach the buttons . A contractual requirement necessitated the use of labour from the surrounding area and a number of workers were trained up specifically to install the buttons , which was a long , laborious process . Having a local workforce working on such intricate work was a challenge but they accomplished the task , working in shifts to complete the process .
GKD worked closely with Terra Ether Architects on the design of the façade and the close and productive working relationship made overcoming the challenges of the mesh installation much easier .
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