Architect and Builder Magazine South Africa January/February 2015

NEWSWORTHY COROBRIK ARCHITECTURAL STUDENT OF THE YEAR AWARD The Corobrik Architectural Student of the Year award will take place on 22 April 2015 at the Maslow Hotel in Sandton. The venue is open to the public between 9am and midday and we invite all interested people to come and view the work of the top eight representing their tertiary institutions. Entrance is free. For more info contact Thilo Sidambaram at Corobrik on 031 560 3111 www.corobrik.co.za VAN DYCK LAYS THE FOUNDATION FOR INNOVATION IN SOUTH AFRICA AURECON EARNS AWARD FROM GROWTHPOINT PROPERTIES Aurecon is committed to delivering sustainable and environmentally responsible building projects and has ensured that its project teams comprise suitably trained and registered professionals, ranging from engineers to Green Star SA Accredited Professionals. In line with this, the company was recently honoured as ‘Top Green Service Provider’ by Growthpoint Properties. “Our work with Growthpoint has included partnerships on flagship green projects, such as Lakeside, Grundfos offices and warehouse and the new Discovery head office in Sandton. The award demonstrates our companies’ shared passion for sustainability and the delivery of cutting-edge and sustainable design options that demonstrate technical excellence and value,” says Martin Smith, Aurecon’s National Green Building Expert. www.aurecongroup.com 8 Van Dyck Carpets is leading the way when it comes to investing in the latest equipment, new products and sustainable manufacturing in South Africa. Much of the company’s substantial achievements can be credited to the innovative approach of the forward thinking Dr Mehran Zarrebini who has headed the company since the family owned holding company PFE International purchased it from Belgian company Domo Carpets in 2004. Van Dyck was a perfect fit and perfectly complemented the rest of PFE International’s South African investment portfolio. It also provided an opportunity to draw on its more than 40 years of international experience in the manufacturing of carpets and fibre and yarn extrusion. Van Dyck is not only South Africa’s oldest carpet manufacturer but the only one that offers a combination of tufted, needle punch and woven carpets. The company also manufactures a range of acoustic underlays made of recycled rubber crumb from used truck tyres. Dr Zarrebini didn’t start out on the factory floor, however. After completing a degree in Chemical Engineering at Loughborough University, he moved into research and ultimately earned his PhD at the age of 26 in 2001. He then joined the family business which, at the time, was expanding its footprint in South Africa. In total, PFE International has invested around R350 million in South Africa. Of this, R80 million has been directed towards Van Dyck to upgrade the aged and poorly maintained equipment that they acquired and meet stringent quality and environmental standards. Van Dyck is both ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001 accredited and, in 2013, became one of just a handful of companies with ISO 14064-1 accreditation, requiring annual reports on greenhouse emissions. Zarrebini has also set his sights set on implementing an ISO 150001 energy management system in conjunction with the United Nations with the backing of the United Nations by 2015. Dr Mehran Zarrebini, director of PFE International, is pictured in the Van Dyck Carpets factory News Watch

Architect and Builder Magazine South Africa January/February 2015 | Page 8