African Design Magazine May 2016 | Page 62

CMA AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE 2016 The results of the CMA Awards for Excellence competition, announced at a gala dinner function in Johannesburg on April 23, suggest that advances in precast concrete technology were significant influencers in this year’s judging process. T he judges had no hesitation in awarding the concrete cladding of No. 1 Silo at Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront the Aesthetics Commercial Trophy. Besides its striking visual appeal, which showcases the beauty of precast concrete construction at its best, the project also involved high levels of skilled precast concrete engineering. Similarly, the judges were unequivocal in nominating the Gouda Wind Farm concrete tower project for the Technical Excellence Trophy, which again reflects substantial levels of technical engineering input. It is a project with a pronounced innovative bias, being the first time that a South African wind farm used precast concrete segments in the construction of its towers, which in this instance were 100m high. Not surprisingly, the project was also entered into the Innovation category where it prevailed as a Commendation Winner. Entries closed on October 16th last year and the judging took place on November 23 at the Johannesburg offices of PPC Cement, the main sponsor of this year’s event. The five judges, all leading professionals in the field of construction, comprised: • Landscape architect and director of Arla Consulting, Antoinette de Beer • Architect and media manager of Paragon Architects, Hugh Fraser • Civil engineer and president of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE), Malcolm Pautz • Civil engineer and a director of Nyeleti Consulting, Abe Thela • Quantity surveyor and managing director of Bert van der Heever Bourekenaars Ingelyf, Bert van der Heever. Interest in this year’s completion was far greater than in 2012 when the CMA was celebrating its 40th anniversary. This was borne out by the number of entries which spiked from 77 in 2012 to 117. As anticipated, Aesthetics Commercial was the dominant category, attracting an impressive 47 projects. Submission numbers in the other categories were as follows: Aesthetics Residential 12; Community Upliftment nine; Technical Excellence 26; Innovation 15; and there were eight entries in the Precast for Life category. Some projects were entered in two or more categories, the Gouda Wind Farm being one example. Click here to read more 62 africandesignmagazine.com