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Listing cover image

Brantwood School Hall

  • Project Year
    2026

Project Type

  • Light Steel Frame Building
  • Infrastructure

Location

Project Team Interview Case Study

Project Overview

The Brantwood School Hall is an 800 m² multi-purpose hall delivered for the Western Cape Education Department in Kuils River, Cape Town. The brief required a fully column-free interior spanning approximately 24 metres, capable of accommodating the entire learner body for assemblies, examinations, sporting events and cultural functions. The project was delivered using a light steel frame structural system — a deliberate choice driven by programme, budget and performance. The structure features 23.7-metre clear-span double duo-pitch cold-formed trusses fabricated from 89x41x11x0.95 mm Grade 550 lipped channel sections at 1,700 mm centres, supported on 300 mm wide LSF portal-frame-type columns. The building was engineered to SANS 10160 and SANS 10162-2, designed for a 40 m/s wind speed on a 50-year return period in Terrain Category C. Lateral stability in the span direction is achieved through moment-transferring column-to-truss connections, with top and bottom chord bracing systems providing longitudinal stability. Total project cost: R6,645,686.98. LSFB cost: R1,727,629.00. LSF tonnage: 20.67 ton. Truss span: 23.7 m. Wall height: 4.8 m.

Steel Profiles Used

  • Date of Steelwork Completion
    2025-11-01
  • Tonnage
    20
  • Cold Formed Structural Sections
    Lipped Channels, LSF Columns, Light Steel Bracing Girders

Metal Cladding and Roofing Overview

  • Date of Cladding Completion
    2025-11-01
  • Material Used
    Youngman Springlock
  • Cladding Profile
    Youngman Springlock

Light Steel Frame Building Overview

  • Date of LSFB Completion
    2025-11-01
  • Materials Used
    Grade 550 Cold-formed Lipped Channel Sections, 89x41x11x0.95 mm LSF Profiles, 300 mm Wide LSF Columns, 89x41x0.75 mm Bracing Girders, Youngman Springlock Roof Cladding, Fibre Cement, Terraco System wall cladding
  • Cladding Area Coverage (m2)
    800

Project Details

All LSF components were manufactured off-site using FrameCAD cold-roll forming machinery under factory-controlled conditions. Once the structural design was finalised and checked by the engineer, the detailer produced a fully coordinated 3D FrameCAD model — available for site teams to access on mobile devices during construction. Every component was cut to length in the factory, generating less than 3% waste, and each member and panel was individually numbered to enable rapid, error-free assembly on site. The wall panels and roof trusses arrived on two trucks, pre-engineered and ready to erect. The use of shimmy plates as connection elements throughout the structure further maximised material efficiency. Pre-construction workshops between By Design, Futurecon and LSF Co included physical mock-up testing of critical connections — particularly the portal-frame-type column-to-truss joints — to resolve practical constructability issues before manufacturing began.
The building was erected on a constrained urban infill site in Kuils River with narrow surrounding roads and limited laydown space, requiring careful sequencing of deliveries and erection. Wall panels were erected and temporarily braced first. Trusses were delivered in erection sequence and laid out on the surface bed ready for lifting. All 23.7-metre roof trusses covering 800 m² of floor area were lifted into position using a spider crane — a compact tracked machine capable of passing through a standard double door — in a single day. The low self-weight of the LSF trusses made this possible where a conventional hot-rolled portal frame would have required heavy plant and multiple days of crane operations. Total time on site from steel erection through cladding, rendering, windows, doors and floor finishes was approximately 2.5 months.
The primary structural challenge was achieving a 23.7-metre clear-span column-free interior in full light steel frame, with standalone lateral stability under all load combinations — territory typically reserved for hot-rolled portal frame construction. The engineers approached this by designing a portal-frame-type structural system using 300 mm wide LSF columns to provide the necessary depth for moment transfer at column-to-truss connections. Connection detailing was resolved through physical mock-up testing in the workshop before fabrication. Wind loading governed the design: the exposed Kuils River location generates uplift forces of up to 19.3 kN per column stud. This was addressed through chemical anchors at column bases (combining vertical and horizontal anchors to avoid edge breakout) and a comprehensive bracing system at both top and bottom chord levels. The constrained site with narrow access roads required precise delivery and erection sequencing to avoid blocking surrounding streets.

Benefits of Steel in this Application

Light steel frame delivered three critical advantages on this project. Speed: all LSF components were manufactured off-site under factory-controlled conditions and arrived on site pre-engineered and pre-numbered, allowing the entire 800 m² of roof trusses to be erected using a spider crane in a single day. This construction efficiency compressed the total on-site programme to approximately 2.5 months from steel erection through to finished building. Cost: over a 23.7-metre clear span, LSF achieved the same structural outcome as a hot-rolled portal frame at significantly reduced material weight and cost, directly enabling the WCED to deliver the facility within constrained public infrastructure budgets. Performance: cold-formed Grade 550 sections optimise stiffness-to-weight ratio; the structure was engineered to resist 40 m/s wind loads, resisting uplift forces of up to 19.3 kN per column stud. Sustainability is embedded throughout: factory cutting generates under 3% waste, all of which is recycled; no excess material was left on site; double 300 mm LSF walls deliver thermal performance that reduces heating and cooling demand; and the roof structure incorporates a 0.16 kPa additional dead load allowance making it solar-ready without future structural intervention.