| PROJECTS |
Construction is underway at Paarl Rock, the fifth building in Concor’s 22ha 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 home-owners.
An artist's impression of the majestic block that anchors the development.
Piling 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 -11m, the piles could be completed in just three weeks, Schonrock says, improving the pace of the project. “We've also installed two tower cranes – a 55m jib and a 45m 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. The beauty of slabs below the surface Horizontal concrete slabs will all be posttensioned, a current eff iciency trend which reduces the amount of costly rebar required. The planned slab thickness has also been 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 000m2 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 200-220m3 are required on this project,” he says. Mixed-use on the rise The Paarl Rock block will include ground floor retail space, two lifts and a rooftop deck on the sixth floor facing westwards at Devil’s Peak and overlooking 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 facebrick – but with a difference. “Different colours and shapes of facebrick have been specified to create texture and variety in the façade,” he explains. “Patterns are also created with rustication, using bricks of different shapes or with varied orientation.” A perforated design is also used for the brick walls in front of drying yards, letting through
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PRECAST | ISSUE FOUR | 2021
The right mix of concrete
CASTS NEW LIGHT ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING
