Architect and Builder Magazine South Africa March/April 2014 | Page 30

Lightweight Building Solutions
A showcase of newest technologies
Ohlhorst Africa proudly offers lightweight
building solutions for the commercial
construction industry in an array of green
lightweight building solutions that allow
freedom of architecture and design
while optimising thermal performance
and weight load.
The External Thermal Insulation Composite
System (ETICS) is a lightweight steel
engineered structure clad in high density
EPS and finished with a mesh enforced
fibre and bonded plaster. The final
rendered plaster is a textured polymeric
colour render available in various textures
and colours. The facade and wall system
reduces the weight load while improving
thermal properties of the structure.
The advantages to the lightweight,
environmentally-friendly ETICS system
are numerous. The structural system is
pre-manufactured off plan to reduce
installation time and coordinate millimetre
precision with glazing, aperture and
services. The Wall systems incorporate
sound and fireproof technology and
dramatically
improve
the
‘green’

rating of a building. This award winning
green technology is opening up many
possibilities and is being used increasingly
in South Africa.
Lightweight building solutions offers
freedom of design to architects –
allowing for technical and challenging
design features to be added to new
and existing structures. ETICS allows wall
design to become unconventional in
both aesthetics and function, visually
pleasing, and certainly stands out from
the traditional building design.
Internal lightweight walls allow for double
volumes with decreased structural load
requirements, creating larger spans
and heights. It is cost-effective and fast
to install, while allowing for changes
throughout
the
building
process.
The intelligent wall design allows for
predesigned service intervals and
requirements in measurement to exact
specifications.
“The product is fairly new to South Africa,
although it has been used for years

throughout Europe. ETICS is a composite
system with several layers that hold green,
energy conscious technology. As with
any technology each layer is constantly
being improved,” says Jacques van Zyl
(marketing and technical manager at
LBS).
Ohlhorst Africa is currently the largest
installer of this technology in South
Africa. Saint-Gobain, the world leader
in the habitat and construction markets,
supplies the composite system and
guarantee, and has accredited Ohlhorst
Africa Lightweight Building Solutions as
a recommended installer of the ETICS
products.

Tel: [phone]
www.ohlhorst.com