Architect and Builder November/December 2018 | Page 72

RESIDENTIAL CATEGORY WINNER
House Matthews
In 2014 Colin Matthews, owner of Mercury Steel
Construction, had a vision to build his dream home in
Helderfontein Estate, Fourways on the Jukskei river banks.
The majority of the home was designed to reflect his
passion for steel, both structurally and aesthetically.
Mercury Steel was a reputable company doing most
of its steel work for Century Property Developments.
They’ve won awards in galvanised steel construction and
been a pillar in the design and execution of many Century
buildings within their developments.
Sadly, Colin passed away in January 2017 leaving the
house with only the structural steel skeleton complete.
Richard Wands and Jessica Hofmeyr, who owned the
neighbouring stand, purchased the stand with completed
structure from the deceased estate and selected Century
Property Developments to complete the house in honour
of Colin Matthews.
The brief to the architect was to ensure that steel
remains the dominant element in the design, creating
strong features yet also a light quality due to the slabs and
walls sitting within the webs of the I-beams. Externally,
the use of steel is dominant and aggressive, with massive
beams and columns. In the interior, steel is forever present,
but subtle and discreet where the beams form part of the
floor finish, the soffit and the walls. Steel enables a lean
design and removes the obstructiveness of large brick /
concrete columns and beams, which would otherwise
be required for all the large openings. The steel allows
natural light to enter the house and exposes the home’s
magnificent view.
Structurally, the house consists of 3 floors and the
structural frame was designed and built mainly with
254x146 x 37kg horizontal I-beams to carry the middle
and upper level exposed concrete suspended slabs. The
larger beams enable the suspended slabs to sit perfectly
in the web of the steel beams. 152 x 152 x 37kg vertical H
Columns allow the brickwork to be flush and the windows
to sit neatly within.
The roof structure’s top frame is constructed with 203
x 133 x 25kg I-beams with the rafters being steel IPE
160 sections. Purlins consisted of 150 x 65 x 20 x 2.5
CFLC sections tying the structure together. Cantilevered
balconies are supported by 160x80x3 RHS columns
running down the front of the house on an angle, creating
a top-heavy cantilevered look, with the house seemingly
on stilts.
The gables and the garages were cladded with Safintra
Trimflute Sheeting. The requirement for the cladding to sit
flush with the 254 I-Beam steel outer flange meant we
had to use a 140mm cement brick to allow for spacing,
and the battens needed 20mm square tubing.
From the driveway to the bottom floor the site has a
7m fall, making access extremely difficult. Steel sections
had to be placed by a crane sitting on the top level. The
steel frame ensured that the building was plumb and
square, which then made setting out walls and levelling
slabs etc. easy to achieve. Ensuring that services all ran
in the concrete slab and into the walls – without seeing
any of the conduits was a challenge and holes had to be
drilled through all the internal horizontal beams to allow
for water, gas and electrical piping. These areas had to
be strengthened with structural fins within the steel web.
Outer walls had to be built with the outer brick laid flat and
the inner brick on edge, to ensure that the plaster didn’t
protrude beyond the steel internally. This resulted in a
clean finish, with the edges of the I-beam flanges being
flush with the plaster.
Client: Richard Wands & Jessica Hofmeyr
Architect: Studious Architects
QS, Project Manager and Main Contractor:
Century Property Development
Structural Engineer: C-Plan Structural Engineers
Steelwork Contractor & Erector:
Wrought Iron Factory
Cladding Manufacturer: Safintra
Cladding Contractor: Nico Grobler Dakoprigting
Photography: Nextgen Group
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Steel Awards