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Sello Tlhotlhalemajoe, Business Development Manager at e-KwikBuild Housing Company, talks to Erica Wark about the company’s recent growth spurt. 2
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ts 9am Monday – you open up your emails and see that you’ve landed a contract to start working a new site, let’s say mining – fantastic news! You want work to start immediately, and that means you need site offices, housing for staff, all manner of facilities, and you need it all to happen fast
KwikBuild FEATURE
To give you an idea of just how quick Kwikbuild are: A 60 square metre office can be built in as little as 4 days, a 30 square metre house, including all plumbing, can be built in as little as 3 days. Until I spoke with Sello Tlhotlhalemajoe I must confess to having quite an outdated and naïve understanding of the world of prefabricated buildings. As with any industry, technology and product capabilities evolve over time. Gone are the days when prefabs equaled temporary or ‘disposable’ buildings. Kwikbuild buildings can last a life time – whether built
Gone are the days when prefabs equaled temporary or ‘disposable’ buildings
The answer: Kwikbuild What would it mean to you if you knew that within 48 hours you could have a site plan of buildings designed to your exact specifications, with 3D illustration and costing delivered to you… AND even have it built in a week or two, depending on the size?
to last in one place, or moving to multiple locations. The quality of the materials means that they have longevity no matter what your requirements. Moreover, the solutions that Kwikbuild offer provide every modern comfort, finished to high quality, and have a staggering number of advantages over ‘traditional’ bricks and mortar buildings. To name a few; Development and installation time is significantly faster than traditional builidings Flexibility in usage and site moves Ease of supply Cost effective Improved insulation Structures can be erected on any terrain Structures can be erected by semi-skilled labour Construction of the top structure only involves a dry building process No need for costly steel or wooden frames. I presume this refers to scaffolding, as our we give an option of building on a concrete slab or on a metal frame. www.southafricamag.com
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KwikBuild FEATURE
What’s more, the materials used are: Weatherproof Fire resistant-insulated core is Expanded Polystyrene with a Flame retardant Durable Provide excellent insulation Meet stringent South African regulations Materials are recyclable Most materials are sourced from South Africa, but Kwikbuild seeks more economical suppliers if this means they can maintain quality but achieve more competitive pricing, an area where competitors have let standards fall.
Kwikbuild are so confident in their product and their build concept that any purchase you make from them comes with a full 5 year structural warranty, and use of their team for any ‘snagging’ for one year. Realistically, once you are a client of Kwikbuild you can trust that they will assist you in facilitating site moves for as long as your company has use of the buildings and land to put them on. Kwikbuild have construction teams that have been with them since the start of business 7 years ago. However, despite
A 60 square metre office can be built in as little as 4 days, a 30 square metre house, including all plumbing, can be built in as little as 3 days
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the exponential growth of the business and movement into the African market geographically, Kwikbuild ensure that experienced teams are sent out to new sites, with a 50:50 balance of their team then helping communities by providing employment of the other half of the team needed, transferring skills of how to construct these buildings. If you’re interested in seeing examples of Kwikbuild’s work then there are plenty of options for large scale projects in both the public and private sectors. In South Africa these have included providing social housing to the Ministry of Housing, and (classrooms) for over 5,000 students across the country for the Ministry of Education. Medical clinics and laboratories have been built for the Department of Health. KwikBuild is working with local authorities involving the re-development of ‘shanty towns’, with an estimated immediate demand for 4 million low-cost homes. They have already been involved with contracts for improving quality of living conditions by replacing corrugated steel roofs with 60mm thick thermally insulated roofs in government low cost housing to meet suburban housing specifications (still negotiating). Furthermore, KwikBuild is a significant constructor of worker camps for the mining, oil and gas sectors throughout Africa; the most recent contract was in Angola. Kwikbuild developed such an impressive track record and business pipeline that 18 months ago LONRHO Plc were thrilled to become involved in providing capital to enable the company’s growth. The achievement of trebling the Kwikbuild turnover in the last year was an undoubted incentive for Lonrho! They have now grown from a small to medium sized business in South Africa in rapid time – certainly their speed of growth equating with the company’s name! This investment of course also assures that Kwikbuild have state of the art technology
CAD, their ‘Solidworks’ programme delivers accuracy of design and speed of turnaround as mentioned earlier. With a priority service available, should you need the plans back within the day, and a typical turnaround on plans of 5 days at the busiest time – this includes full costings, technical drawings and every facet to meet the client’s needs. So what is next for Kwikbuild? In the private sector they’re constructing the (Cape Town Station Deck Trader Stalls/ Units), a R18.5 million contract in itself…. but they still have capacity for more. They are currently embarking on a R10 million project for a hospital at East London (Frere Hospital), plus and a 700 pupil school near Port Elizabeth is now in Kwikbuild’s rapidly expanding portfolio. It really would seem that their buildings are a practical solution for any industry sector, and any geographical location…. Perhaps you would like to add your next project to their schedule? www.e-kwikbuild.co.za END www.southafricamag.com
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Corner Bridge & Molecule rd Triangle Farm Bellville 7530 PO Box 1432 Sanlamhof 7532 Tel: +27 21 949 0270 Email: info@e-kwikbuild.co.za
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