Load-bearing precast concrete panels supplied by Concrete Manufacturers Association (CMA) member, Cape Concrete Works, have given The Foundry, 60-year
Load-bearing precast concrete panels supplied by Concrete Manufacturers Association (CMA) member, Cape Concrete Works, have given The Foundry, 60-year-old two-storey light-industrial building, a new lease on life. Twelve arched precast panels have replaced plastered masonry walls on the building’s two main facades, radically transforming a stark structure into a modern, light-filled consumer and commercial space.
The Foundry is situated in Nooitgedacht Village, a secure lifestyle village some 10km from the centre of Stellenbosch. Developed by Remey Property Group, the revamped structure houses all the amenities needed in a secure lifestyle village including a restaurant, fully equipped gym, offices, a pre-school, laundromat, doctors’ rooms and five airbnb units.
The building is located in a pocket of undeveloped land which Remey bought in 2022. Besides The Foundry, The Vineyards, a new apartment block built by Remey some 40m away, the Village includes 385 homes, development land and some old warehouses which are also earmarked for redevelopment by Remey.
The Foundry’s makeover design and the use of precast arched panels was initiated by Remey Construction’s experienced project team in collaboration with Gass Architecture Studios, which designed the building, and KLS Consulting Engineers, which handled the structural engineering. Remey Construction, which forms part of Remey Property Group, was the main contractor, and in addition to casting the precast concrete panels, Cape Concrete was responsible for the panel installation.
“When taking all the new walling elements into account, precast concrete worked out to be slightly more cost-effective than cast-in-situ walling,” said Remey contracts manager, Dawid Adendorff.
“Time was of the essence because we wanted the completion of The Foundry and The Vineyards apartments to coincide, and by opting for precast rather than cast-in-situ panelling we were able to cut construction time by four weeks.
“Besides the advantage of precast’s superior finishes, another was that all the panels would be delivered with identical dimensions. This meant that the aluminium window and door-frames could be ‘mass-produced’ to a single set of measurements rather than 12 different sets had the panels been cast in-situ. Moreover, Cape Concrete handled the full panel installation which allowed our foreman to devote more time to other aspects of the project.”
“A project of this nature demands the stringent and robust application of all OHS elements, and this is a facet of our work to which we always pay particularly close attention. And it’s worth noting that during the 2024 Boland Master Builders Association AGM, Remey Construction won an award for exceptional Occupational Health & Safety standards for projects in excess of R40 million.”
Architect Zach Botha said that regeneration projects in which a building’s core elements are left intact form an important part of Gass Architecture Studios’ product offering.
“Our initial approach to The Foundry project was to erect the arched façade walling with in-situ concrete, but we found that precast gave us great quality control and the precise finishes we wanted.
“It was important for us to open up the building and our design centred on the user and pedestrian. To this end we created a double-volume central spine which provides access to all ground-floor activities. It has two entrances, each framed by two of the panels in opposing elevations. And by introducing arched panels with a high percentage of glass frontage we were able to fill the building with natural light.
“We retained the roof and most of the first floor in the revamped structure, the former because its exposed wooden rafters form an attractive architectural feature,” said Botha.
Cape Concrete cast the panels in three sections, an upper arch section in a single unit with two load-bearing beams, one above the arch and the other below it, and two columns which are bolted to and support the arch sections. The lower beams were indented on the outer panel facades by 30mm so that an infill of klompie cladding could be attached to them for aesthetic purposes.
The assembled panels weigh nine tonnes apiece, are 6.5m high and have a column-to-column width of 5m. This made them too large for normal transport, a challenge which was solved by assembling them on site.
The building incorporates a first-floor slab reinforced with down-stand beams and columns at five metre centres, as well as internal and perimeter load-bearing masonry.
“We had to design for the lateral and vertical loading on the panels. We opted for a propped cantilever design in which the panels were laterally supported in mid-section by the first-floor slab. Additional support was gained by a specially designed connection system which tied the panel columns to the foundations and which provided moment transfer to the foundations,” said structural engineer, Christie Schreuder of KLS Consulting Engineers.
“Site work began with propping the first floor down-stand beams along the perimeters of three facades as well as the roof framework so that the perimeter walls, which were load-bearing, could be demolished. In addition, during construction the roof was propped and the first-floor internal walling left intact for additional support until the loading could be transferred to the precast panels and to longitudinal steel I-beams which were mounted on hollow steel sections.
“One of the challenges facing the project team was the fact that the roof eaves overhang the two elevation walls. This meant that the mobile crane could not lower the panels directly onto rebar or anchor bolts as is customary. Rather, they were lowered onto the foundations at an angle and then tilted into a vertical position. And instead of being bolted or dowelled to the foundations, they were wedged between two 500mm high concrete upstands.
“The first or inner upstand was cast before the panels were installed and the outer unit was cast once the panels had been propped into position. Non-shrink grout was poured into the gap between the panel support columns and the two upstands. By providing moment transfer to the foundations this connection system further strengthened the structure’s lateral stability,” said Christie.
In order to hang the panels in a vertical position, Cape Concrete fabricated two steel brackets which were attached to the top of the panels on either side of the arches. They were reinforced with a connecting steel beam and followed the contour of the roof eaves when the panels were hung in their final vertical resting position.
Before the panels were lowered into position Cape Concrete took levels on all the foundations. Steel shims were then placed between the foundations and the panel columns, and because the panels were installed at an angle, extra-long shims were used to prevent any shifting during the installation process. Once the panels were adjusted to the right height they were propped at 60°.
The lower beams in the arched sections were attached to the first-floor down-stand beams and the upper beams were connected to the roof rafters, both with U-shaped steel brackets.
You are invited to visit Nooitgedacht Village to sample the atmosphere created by these faultless arches and experience what “live life beautifully” is all about.
Project team
Client Remey Property Group Holdings
Architects Gass Architecture Studios
Consulting Engineers KLS Consulting Engineers
Main Contractor Remey Construction
Precast panels supplier Cape Concrete Works
