The purpose of the project was to provide a new warehouse facility which would serve as a central distribution center for Woodlands Dairy UHT products.
Our Clients brief was to design a warehouse of 18000sqm which they would need to occupy on a specific date. An important requirement was that the facility would need to be sufficiently sealed to eliminate any dust ingress and the height needed to accommodate a pallet raking system.
The warehouse was to link onto an existing warehouse and had to maximize the site and would need to be able to accommodate future expansion.
The structure was always envisaged as steel. Due to the extremely tight programme and budget, the appointed main contractor was requested to investigate alternative methods which could be a cost saving and accelerate his programme. The option of concrete columns where looked at. In the end steel was chosen due to the speed of erection and flexibility of construction. All steel was required to be hot dipped galvanized. Due to the lead time of galvanizing and limitations on steel section lengths, all internal steel was to receive a Sigma coating.
The columns supporting the building was a combination of minimal reinforced concrete internally and hot rolled structural steel I sections and H sections along the perimeter of the building. The roof was supported by structural steel trusses comprising hot rolled angles with hot rolled T-sections used as top and bottom chords. The trusses spanned onto structural steel girders of a similar construction than the trusses. Bracing members were circular hollow sections.
The sites irregular shape and conditions as well as the Clients request to maximize the site, meant the warehouse required to change in angle along its length as well as a change in level due to the site slope. This all made for some challenging structural junctions and sheeting interfaces.
Dust proofing the warehouse was challenging. Junctions between different sheeting profiles of roof bullnose, side cladding and gutter interface as well as where the side cladding terminated at the concrete floor perimeter upstand. The structure had to be enclosed prior to the concrete floor being cast.
If it were not for the fact that we were a well-established project team we would never have achieved the quality of facility provided in the extremely tight time frame given.
| Tons of structural steel used | 572 Tonnes |
| Structural profiles used | I-sections, H-sections, T-sections, Circular hollow sections |
| Cladding profile/ type used | Saflok 410/TUFDEK |
| Cladding area/ coverage and tonnage | Roof Sheeting 20 140m2
Vertical Cladding 6 443m2 |
Project Team
| Project Team Role | Company |
| Nominator | Safintra |
| Client/ Developer | Woodlands Dairy |
| Architect | MMK Architects |
| Structural Engineer | Sigma Consulting |
| Engineer | Not provided by nominator |
| Quantity Surveyor | Johnston & Rosser |
| Project Manager | MMK Architects |
| Main Contractor | WBHO Construction |
| Steelwork Contractor | USS (Uitenhage Super Steel) |
| Steel Erector | USS (Uitenhage Super Steel) |
| Cladding Manufacturer | Safintra |
| Cladding Supplier | Safintra |
| Cladding Contractor | Cladall |
| Corrosion Protection Coating |
PPG Protective & Marine Coatings |
| Corrosion Protection Paintwork Contractor |
USS (Uitenhage Super Steel) |
| Photographer, Photo competition | Impact Studio |
| Photographer, Other submitted images | Impact Studio |
If you were a part of this project, and your company details are incorrect or missing – please notify the SAISC so that the error can be corrected.