African project
House Van Der Westhuizen – South Africa
H-Profile elements. The entire pre-fabricated steel structure is made up of 152 x 152
x 23 steel H-Profile columns and beams. This led to a purist form and “systematic”
detailing. Though pre-fabrication and “systematic” construction is not necessarily
commonly employed in South Africa, it is becoming more important with increased
demand and rising labour costs. The exploration of this form of construction logic could
be considered most appropriate for the context of this project due to the site’s distance
from reliable material suppliers.
Initially the prefabricated, site assembled steel structure was erected, allowing the
permanent shuttered concrete flooring, or suspended timber floors to be filled-in where
required. A concrete service tower was introduced as structural core. This core also
serves as main heating and cooling element. The core consists of two shafts; one as an