Architect and Builder November/December 2015 | Page 66

JOINT WINNERS OF LIGHT STEEL FRAME CATEGORY: House De Clercq and Cottage and Mediclinic
Nothing emphasises more the coming of age of light steel frame building (LSFB) in SA than the record number of LSFB project entries.
The judges opted for Joint Category Winners in the Saint Gobain Light Steel Frame Building category.
House De Clercq and Cottage, Mount Verde, KZN
Set in an agricultural estate, this house is a perfect example of
what LSFB methods are meant for. “It is true to the material and
does not look like a LSF house trying to look like a brick home and
the early involvement of the contractor with the design team enabled
them to push the limits of LSFB,” the judges said.
“With a clever mix of an LSF system, with plated LSF joists and
some hot rolled steel, they were able to achieve the client’s desire
for an industrial look with thin sharp lines to produce a world class,
beautiful up-market home,” said the judges
Some of the features:
• Hot-rolled steel: Structural steel H-sections form the structure
of the centre living area, main façade and three patio areas.
• Exposed LSFB construction, finished in black paint.
• Large glazed openings to capture the stunning view. This was
achieved using a combination of doubling up LSF joists and plating
them with 1.0mm thick galvanized sheet and L-headers.
• Exterior wall cladding was done with flat fibre cement board with
a fine texture plaster finish and imported tongue and groove Shera
plank. Interior walls were clad with Gyproc 15mm Firestop boards.
“We have had many houses entered into Steel Awards since
we started this category, but this house highlighted more than any
others all those wonderful attributes that makes the LSFB product
so special,” the judges concluded.
Client: Kim and Paul De Clercq
Architect:
Earth Energy Architecture
Structural Engineer:
Martin & Associates
Main Contractor, LSF Contractor,
Project Manager, Cladding erector: Shospec
Steelwork Contractor:
Barnmaster
Structural Steel Detailer/ Detailing Company:
Steel Frame Developments - (Light Steel Frame roll former);
Martin and Associates (for structural steel);
Barnmaster (for structural steel)
Cladding Supplier: Capco

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Mediclinic, Midstream, Centurion
Due to the early involvement of the LSF contractor and profile
supplier, the architect was convinced that the design should
include a LSF roof structure to reduce the total load on the
supporting structure.
The Ultra-Span (a pre-fabricated light gauge steel roof truss
system by MiTek) roof structure covers 9,100m² of the roof
structure and weighs in at almost 68 tons of steel. This comes to
just below 7.5 kilograms per square metre, including purlins, which
is extremely light considering some of the roof trusses span 19m
with considerable live load and bottom cord loading requirements.
The design also allowed for supporting 100mm-thick FBI insulation
between the truss top chords and the purlins.
The long-span, Ultra-Span trusses were assembled on site,
eliminating transport problems of the large components. Smaller
units were assembled in the factory and delivered to site.
“This project is an excellent testimonial for light steel frame
roofing,” the judges said. ”It illustrates all the beneficial aspects of
steel – formability, guaranteed high strength, low mass, straight and
true elements, narrow tolerances, ease of transport, handling and
erection, with life-long corrosion protection supplied by the thin zinc
coating. And to top it all, the cost of the light steel roof structure was
50% lower than timber trusses and 30% lower than what welded
heavy steel trusses would have cost!
“It is no wonder that the use of light steel roof structures - such
as Ultra Span - is growing so rapidly, replacing timber, and even
competing with heavy steelwork in certain cases,” they concluded.
Client: Mediclinic
Architect: Graceland Architects
Structural Engineer:
Cibucon Structural Engineers
Quantity Surveyor and Project Managers:
TMS Quantity Surveyors
Main Contractor: Basil Read
LSF Contractor, Detailer, Supply of profiles:
Ultra-Span LGS- MiTek Industries South Africa
Cladding Contractor:
Rainbow Sheeting

Steel Awards