Saint-Gobain Revamps the Cape Town Stadium
The closure of the world-renowned Newlands Rugby Stadium in Cape Town and movement of all sporting events to the iconic Cape Town Stadium , gave leading global construction and industrial markets organisation , Saint-Gobain an opportunity to shine .
The team at Saint-Gobain were tasked with designing and constructing new hospitality suites to very strict guidelines due to weight constraints on the pre-existing slab that the stadium was built on .
“ We were tasked with coming up with light-weight building solutions for ceiling and walls that would be able to be constructed as quickly as possible due to time constraints for the 308 suites totalling 21,300m ² for alterations ,” explains Mark Le Grange , Area Sales Manager for Ecophon from Saint-Gobain .
Saint-Gobain chose to use their Ecophon Ceiling Systems , one of the lightest in the world . Their Focus™ DS System weighs in at 2 – 3kg / m ² and at 5kg / m ² for their Solo™ panels , which when compared with competing systems for the 9,500m ² required , saved an incredible 28.5 tonnes !
“ Our Saint-Gobain Ecophon products offer excellent sound absorption efficiencies . It is this high absorption coefficient of the products which assists in achieving the Class A acoustic rating ,” says Mark . “ Our ceiling systems are designed to work within the functionality of a room , to be discreet when required or to contribute to the room design as desired ,” he said .
To accompany the light-weight ceilings , Saint-Gobain ’ s Gyproc dry walling system solution was chosen as it is 7 - 10 times lighter than traditional masonry walls . The Gyproc RhinoBoard ® FireStop ® DB boards were used for demising walls and the Gyproc RhinoBoard ® MoistureResistant™ boards for bathrooms - both on the Gypframe ® UltraSTEEL ® wall frame systems , cladding either the 63.5 or 102mm format .
“ Our Gyproc systems are specified with enhanced performance attributes where required . A 120-minute fire resistance tested system was specified for safety in areas , this was delivered through our Gyproc RhinoBoard ® FireStop ® DB walling system , which also offers
superior acoustic solutions compared to conventional construction ,” says Izak Scholtz , Commercial Manager for Gyproc and Isover at Saint-Gobain .
“ We had great trust in the Saint-Gobain team as we have worked with them on many other projects . We briefed them with regards to the requirements , and the Saint- Gobain team complied with the dry walling specification and project pack ” says Carina Marais , Prof . Snr . Architect Technologist at Ebesa Architects . “ We did not have to change anything they had specified for the build . We commend the Saint-Gobain Team for taking a pro-active approach by innovatively constructing a mock-up for approval during lock down conditions .”
Design Mock Up “ Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdowns and travel restrictions threw a few spanners in the works , but nothing the team at Saint-Gobain were not able to overcome to ensure tight deadlines were met ,” states Riaan Walters , Project Manager for Saint-Gobain .
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