Architect and Builder Magazine South Africa November/December 2013

WINNER RESIDENTIAL CATEGORY Rooi Els Beach House This spectacular Rooi Els beach house won the Residential category at Steel Awards 2013. The judges noted that while the judging criterion for this category is excellence in the use of structural steel, this house displayed excellence in almost everything. They said they were intrigued right from the start when, on an early judging trip a few years ago, seeing the skeleton of the structure rise from the rocks and then viewing the photographs of the finished article that accompanied the entry. “It stood out as a winner in all the criteria, it also showed what steel can do when faced with its ‘arch enemy’ – corrosion!” they said. One of the judges, Heather Dodd, representing the South African Institute of Architects, said: “This steel-framed house sits floating above the Rooi Els promontory. It is designed as a long thin glass box with a timber deck wrapping around its exterior. Internally, the box is divided by bathroom pods and sliding doors which separate the living spaces from the bedroom areas.” Steel was the material of choice but how do you protect it against this extreme corrosive environment? With a back-to-back corrosion protection guarantee for the client in mind, a team was brought together around the design table. Terry Smith from the Hot Dip Galvanizers Association of Southern Africa, together with the galvanizer, paint supplier and the fabricator, presented a 15-year guarantee for the duplex system as installed. The structural design was challenging in the large clear span leaps and cantilevered overhangs demanded by the architecture. Careful attention was paid to the deflection criteria over and around glazed sliding/folding perimeter walls, under particularly onerous wind loading conditions. The floor structure is a composite of a reinforced concrete flat slab, framed by a steel channel, and supported on a regular grillage of steel columns, which extend uninterrupted up to the ceiling plane where they are framed by a ‘Toblerone Vierendeel’ truss that rings the house and ultimately forms a glazed clerestory. Developer/Owner: Upbeat Properties 167 Architect: Elphick Proome Architects Inc. Structural Engineer: Linda Ness Associates Project Manager: Elphick Proome Architects Inc. Main Contractor: Brandbild Steelwork Contractor: Apocalypse Mechanical Monsters Detailers/ Detailing Company: Apocalypse Mechanical Monsters Corrosion Protection: Cape Galvanising Consolidated Corrosion Protection Consultants: Hot Dip Galvanizers Association of Southern Africa Interior Designers: Elphick Proome Interiors (EPi) 56 Steel Awards

Architect and Builder Magazine South Africa November/December 2013 | Page 56