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Concor successfully completed a fast-tracked Covid-19 facility at Jubilee Hospital using innovative building technology .
FAST-TRACKED COVID-19 MODULES
FOR JUBILEE HOSPITAL
Concor successfully completed a Covid-19 facility at Jubilee Hospital using innovative building technology . This was handed over at the end of November 2020 , having begun work on site some five months earlier .
The turnkey project in Hammanskraal north of Pretoria handed over ten modular units to the Gauteng Department of Health , adding another 300 beds to care for Covid-19 patients . The facility comprises five 25-bed intensive care unit ( ICU ) modules – complete with a two-bed isolation ward – and five 35-bed high-care modules .
According to Rui Santos , senior contracts director at Concor , the company already started completing modules from mid- October ( excluding commissioning ). The modular approach was chosen so that units could be completed and put into operation while others were still being constructed , if the need arose .
“ This has certainly been a demanding project in terms of its timeframe ,” Santos says . “ However , by applying the appropriate technologies alongside our extensive experience , we met deadlines while complying with national building standards and without compromising safety or quality .”
Neither did the Covid-19 lockdown regulations slow the project down . Almost all the required meetings and collaboration before and during the project were conducted remotely , with all players fully committed to the new ways of working .
The brief from the implementing agent – the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development – called for alternative construction materials to reduce the timeframe of the project . After considering different options , Concor decided on Futurecon ’ s light frame steel with prefabricated panels .
“ To assist in the fast-tracking of the process , the panels are cladded on site and were quickly followed by roof truss installation ,” Santos says . “ This opened up the opportunity to get the services installed much earlier than would have been possible using conventional brick-and-mortar methods . This process was facilitated by a specialised team making up the frames on site and erecting them there and then , allowing greater control of sequencing and pace of work .”
The project schedule was maintained from earthworks stage despite encountering poor ground conditions , groundwater , existing buildings and large boulders in some
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