Architect and Builder Magazine South Africa November/December 2013 | Page 57

WINNER - LIGHT STEEL FRAME BUILDING CATEGORY
NTT Audi New Showroom, East London
This project won the Stewart and Lloyds Light Steel Frame Building (LSFB) category. One
of the judges, Peter Curr, representing the Association for Steel Tube and Pipe Manufacturers
of South Africa, said that over the past few years the entries for the LSFB category have been
predominantly for residential structures. “This, however, was a top-end motor showroom,
which was certainly a departure from the norm and required closer inspection. It came
through with flying colours, demonstrating the unique attributes of LSFB. In this case,
instead of straight and square lines, we were treated to dramatic curves that illustrated the
versatility of the product,” he said.
As expected, the interior of an upmarket car showroom must be unique and classy to show
off a respected German-made car brand. The client wanted curved walls and bulk heads to
get the right effect and usually this would have been done in concrete. But, as with most
retail and commercial projects, time is money and the LSFB method was the perfect solution.
The LSFB contractor responsible for the interior curved walls, bulkheads, skimmed ceilings
and metal pan ceilings said that this project – entailing three curved walls at a 60 degree
incline - was one of its most technical and challenging projects, pushing its design and fitting
teams to new heights.
The walls were approximately 20m in length and 8.5m in height and had to accommodate
light pockets and large openings in places. Installing and designing a 400mm deep, selfsupported wall substructure had its own structural and design challenges as most of the walls
are self-supporting. Suspended ceilings and bulkheads are mostly curved at wall junctions
with a shadow line perimeter cornice. Most of the suspended ceilings are clad with nonstandard metal mesh tiles and a grey ceiling grid.
Light steel frame wall beams formed the sub-structure for the curved walls which were
then double cladded with full skim finish. Very technical detailing was involved with junctions
to different areas and curves needing some custom-made solutions. The LSFB contractor
was also responsible for the shop fitting and interior fit-out of the showroom.
Due to the very tight project programme, as well as the size and height of the curved
walls, the LSFB method was the perfect system to use in place of standard dry-walling.
Furthermore, the use of pre-assembled structural beams and joists allowed for very quick
on-site erection of curved walls with the added advantage of consistent sizes and accuracy.
Develo