Formwork and scaffolding manufacturer PERI South Africa was able to supply a unique design solution for the challenging 92 Rivonia Road mixed-use development.

This allowed main contractor WBHO to come to grips with the striking ‘feature brows’ at the project, key and strategic projects lead engineer Sebastian Burwitz explains.

The project was a major challenge from a structural and architectural point of view. This included varied floor heights, and a façade that integrated steel, glass, aluminium and concrete elements. The 1.8-m-wide and 300-mm-deep ‘feature brow’ along Pybus road was a suspended off-slab edge with a 33º column-line angle, which extends from the second to the ninth floor.

In addition, a ‘small brow’ along Rivonia road is a cantilever feature from the second to the fourth floor, protruding from the slab edge at a 40º angle, and returning into the horizontal slab on the fourth floor.

“The unique design solution was a first for us and required thinking out of the box; PERI had talented engineers who worked with the architect and contractor,” says Burwitz.

The individual formwork components from PERI are lightweight, with the panels and main beams weighing only 15.5 kg each. This allowed for a systematic assembly sequence, whereby the size of the panel dictated the prop position, with only 0.29 props required for every square metre of slab formwork.

PERI South Africa’s scope of work focused on all the horizontal concrete elements, such as the two feature brows, which had to be integrated seamlessly with all the steel, aluminium and glass elements. “In terms of our specific relationship with WBHO, we are responsible for most of the project designs where our equipment is used,” Burwitz stresses.

Meanwhile, WBHO has collaborated with PERI South Africa on a range of projects, from the new Discovery Campus head office to Alice Lane 3, both in Sandton. Architectural practice DBM Architects, structural engineer L&S Consulting and specialist steel fabricator Cadcon were also involved in the project.