African project
Radisson Blu Hotel and Residence – South Africa
direct interface with surrounding activities, so converting this building into more private
and comfortable living spaces (and attaining the required acoustic levels) has been a key
challenge to address. “We’ve worked closely with our engineers to achieve the required
comfort within the apartments,” says Bernicchi. He adds that there are sufficient
experienced people within the construction profession to meet the exacting standards.
“Once the project is in full swing there will be hundreds of skilled people working
throughout the building with a view to achieving a world class result.”
Juan Hugo (owner of JW Hugo construction group) confirms that the initial demolishing
has been undertaken and they are working on nine floors, building walls in order
to complete the first fix services – heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC),
plumbing, fire and mechanical work.
Discussing the conversion of this office building to residential use, Hugo says that apart
from the shell of the building and the lifts, all aspects of the apartments will be newly
built. Existing services must be stripped before they can start from scratch on the
new apartment layout. A particular challenge is penetrating post tension slabs, while
bypassing the post-tensioning cables when coring or breaking through.
All the existing windows are being retained, not just to provide natural light, but
also to make the most of the fabulous vistas. “The building was designed and built
symmetrically, the designers have done a great job in maximising the space and views,”
says Hugo.
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3D renderings of the penthouse