Renish Girls High Stellenbosch

The purpose of the project was to replace the existing timber structure which was deflecting and collapsing after 70 years of service. The brief to the architect was that the structure should comply with the heritage of the building, keeping the appearance consistent with the existing structure while complying with established building regulations.

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While timber was originally considered, a light steel frame solution was ultimately chosen due to its long service period. Profiled sections were used, with the profiles differing according to the strength required for each truss design. The entire roof was assembled on ground level in sections and then hoisted to roof level with a mobile crane. The floor level assembly, which made handling easier was made possible by creating a wallplate level replica of the building at a lower more easily accessible platform. In terms of cladding the roof structure, the 60-degree pitch was a challenge for safe working conditions with long sheet lengths.

All teams needed to communicate effectively from the start, as the existing roof had an asbestos slate which needed to be removed first. At a public school, this poses many challenges to co-ordinate the time of removal without interfering with the day to day school process. During the construction phase areas had to be cordoned off to prevent access during overhead hoisting and installation of large sections of the Light Steel Frame roof structure

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