ROOFING & CLADDING
“ No mechanical ventilation( or air conditioning) has been installed in the classrooms or administration building. Windows and doors were installed to the required specifications to provide optimum ventilation. However, construction detailing includes insulation in the walls and ceilings, which greatly facilitates an acceptable classroom environment,” says Paul Maree of GVK.
Walker adds that the use of a LSF system with a dry external finishing system( DEFS) cladding considerably improved the R-value performance of the walls, ensuring vastly improved thermal efficiency.“ The average R-value of a double brick wall is 0.29. However, our custom walls average around 3.1. This means that staff and pupils will experience cooler summers and warmer winters indoors.”
What impressed the Steel Awards 2015 judges
“ The LSF system allowed for precise, factorycontrolled components that came together on-site with clean lines and consistent quality. For the learners and teachers, the result is a set of bright, modern spaces that are comfortable, robust, and easy to maintain.
“ New Orleans Primary School shows how smart use of steel is not only about structural efficiency. It is also a practical tool for delivering better environments for education and community life, at the speed and scale that South Africa needs.” – SAISC Steel Awards.
1. Paint: 1 layer of primer and 2 layers of desired acrylic emulsion.
2. Skim: 3mm layer of Cretestone / Rhinolite / Rhinoglide.
3. Internal board: 15mm Firestop Gypsum Board.
4. Insulation: 102mm Cavity Batt fitted inside steel frame cavities.
5. Light Steel Frame: G550 Galvanised C channel structural steel wall panel.
6. 9 / 12mm Fibre Cement Board: Staggered in a running bond and screwed into lightweight steel frame. Entire surface to be coated in Terraco Terrabond A and all board joints receive Terraco Handycoat Flex with embedded Terraco Terramesh system to waterproof and fill the facade board joints.
7. Terraco Styrobond DP First layer: Styrobond DP is applied on top of the external facade board with a notched trowel. Al PVC termination / corner beadings need to be installed below this layer.
8. Terraco Terramesh: Terraco Terramesh is immediately embedded into the first layer of Styrobond DP when wet to reinforce the system. 9. Terraco Styrobond DP Finishing layer: Styrobond DP is applied over the embedded reinforcing mesh and tooled to a semi smooth finish.
10. Terraco Pigmented P Primer: An acrylic-based, pigmented primer applied to the substrate prior to applying the final textured coating.
11. Terraco Terracoat: Terraco Terracoat textured coating applied with trowel or sprayed.
Project team
Facility owner / client: Western Cape Education Department Architects: Osmonde-Lange Management contractor: GVK Project QS: Annalie Blokker & LWA Engineers: Zutari Structural contractor: Futurecon Engineering – Light Steel Framing: By Design( www. bydesign. org. za)
Reference: www. saisc. co. za / listing / new-orleans-primary-school
84 winter 2026 | www. tobuild. co. za