SA Affordable Housing September / October 2021 | Page 8

PROJECT

Paarl Rock shows the way

Edited Rory Macnamara
Construction is underway at Paarl Rock , the fifth building in Concor ’ s 22-hectare Conradie Park development in Cape Town .

Piling for the eight-storey block began in May 2021 , marking the start of a one-year building programme , according to Mark Schonrock , property development manager at Concor . Paarl Rock will comprise 266 architecturally designed apartments in an affordable model for first-time homeowners .

The block is underpinned by 158 continuous flight auger ( CFA ) piles , which present a quicker solution than bored or driven piles . With depths of 8 to 11 metres , the piles could be completed in just three weeks , Schonrock says , improving the pace of the project .
“ We have also installed two tower cranes – a 55 metre jib and a 45-metre jib – to facilitate our programme of work ,” he says . These will lift and move concrete for vertical columns , as well as reinforcing bars for slabs and columns , and all formwork around the site .
Horizontal concrete slabs will all be post-tensioned , a current efficiency trend which reduces the amount of costly rebar required . The planned slab thickness has also been slightly reduced , from 285mm to 255mm . While a relatively small reduction , this will allow a saving of some 450m ³ of concrete over the planned area of 15 000 m 2 of slab work .
“ Pouring of slabs will be conducted by a truck-mounted boom placer , which enhances construction efficiency especially where large continuous pours of 200 to 220m ³ are required on this project ,” he says .
The Paarl Rock block will include ground floor retail space , two lifts and a roof top deck on the sixth floor looking westwards at Devil ’ s Peak and over the Cape Town central business district towards Signal Hill . To minimise the cost of long-term maintenance on the outside walls , the design makes use of face brick – but with a difference .
ALL PHOTOS : © SA AFFORDABLE HOUSING | RORY MACNAMARA
Current works on site progressing well with the rental stock units .
6 SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2021 SAAffordHousing saaffordablehousingmag SA Affordable Housing www . saaffordablehousing . co . za