20 Feb First precast sports stadium completed in just two days
20 February 2024: In what is believed to be the first of its type in South Africa, specialist designers, manufacturers and suppliers of structural and precast concrete construction elements, Peikko South Africa, report on the construction of a school sports pavilion in a record time of just two days.
Winston Visser, Peikko’s Project Engineer, relates that the company was approached by the professional team’s Quantity Surveyor with a proposal to construct a new sports pavilion at the Springvale Primary School in Centurion. The school currently teaches 1 300 learners, which will be increased by a further 500 students by 2024, and required infrastructure to accommodate its growing numbers during sports days.
“A major concern of the school’s management was that erecting a sports pavilion by conventional on-site construction methods was both time consuming and presented safety hazards from inquisitive onlookers. Peikko South Africa team presented inital design and gave the assurance to the professional team and the school’s principle that the pavilion would be erected in just two days with no compromise to safety,” explains Visser.
Despite some disbelief, he adds that Peikko’s design, which incorporated both male and female changing rooms and ablutions; 120m2 of storage space for sporting equipment; and an aesthetically pleasing off shutter finish to the seating panels, found favour and construction commenced off site.
“Close cooperation with the contractors of the raft foundations ensured that the placement for the precast column’s anchor bolts were accurately positioned – a critical element in the build. Columns and seating panels, and the later addition of stairways on each end of the pavilion were all manufactured off site in a factory environment, which ensured quality control and element accuracy while minimising environmental emissions normally found on-site with conventional construction. This was appreciated by the school’s management in a setting where children are present.”
Visser states that the manufacture of the building elements with all the necessary cast in Peikko mechanical connections was scheduled to coincide with the completion of the raft foundations, and after the delivery of just five loads of precast elements, the erection of the pavilion was completed in the promised two days, much to the astonishment of the school’s principle and the professional team!
“The speed of the on-site installation is a major advantage of the Peikko system of precast element design and its system of the mechanical connections, is that site erection is both quick and easy, each ‘piece’ fitting like a glove.
“So impressed were the school’s management with the fit and finish or the final product, that they have ordered a second pavilion to be built early in 2024. And likewise, the overseeing architects have concluded a marketing agreement with Peikko to promote its technique, which is expected to find favour in rural communities seeking similar sporting facilities,” Visser concluded.
ENDS
About Peikko Group:
Peikko Group Corporation is a leading global supplier of slim floor structures, wind energy applications and connection technology for precast and cast-in-situ. Peikko’s innovative solutions offer a faster, safer, and more efficient way to design and build. Peikko has sales offices in over 30 countries in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and North America, with manufacturing operations in eleven countries. Peikko generated a turnover of EUR 230 million in 2019. Peikko is a family-owned and managed company that employs over 1,800 professionals. Peikko was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Lahti, Finland. Further information: www.peikko.com
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