Company Announcement - Leading Gauteng building contractors, J.C. van der Linde & Venter Projects, have completed a R21 million contract for extensive refurbishment - involving "massive structural alterations" - to the Mercedes-Benz AMG Driving Academy at the Zwartkops Race Track, near Pretoria.Thomas Joubert, Contracts Director of J.C. van der Linde & Venter Projects, says the challenging contract called for the demolition of about 40% of an existing upmarket double-storey building overlooking the Zwartkops Race Track, from where the AMG Driving Academy is offered, and other major Mercedes-Benz corporate functions are staged.

"The refurbishment contract awarded to J.C. van der Linde & Venter Projects called for the demolition of the western part of the building, to be replaced by an ultra-modern double-storey structure overlooking the race track. Luxury balconies and a mini-pavillion adjacent to the track also had to be provided," Joubert stated. "The new design included large volumes of open spaces inside the premises so the existing structure had to be strengthened through the installation of steel plates totalling 385 metres in length, and 100mm by 12mm in dimension. In addition, 1 627 chemical steel anchors and several structural steel "I-beams", up to 457mm in depth, were employed to carry the weight. For additional support - and to maximise the interior open spaces - 15 relatively thin steel columns only 10mm thick with base plates 30mm thick, were installed instead of conventional bulkier columns."

Jourbert said a total revision of the refurbishment of the new section of the building followed the appointment of new structural engineers when the project was already underway who felt that the original plans did not provide sufficient support for the upper levels of the structure. "The new specifications received at that time inevitably posed major time and labour challenges for us as building contractors. The new plans also called for the redesigning of the foundations for the new section of the building and its heavy roof. Massive excavations - in formidable, exceptionally clay soil - had to be undertaken and, in all, over 1 200 cubic metres of  soil had to be backfilled after the foundations were completed. The excavations and provision of new foundations took about two months to complete.
"Another challenge we had to cope with was restricted working space: the fence of the race track is only a few metres from the Driving Academy building."

As part of the refurbishment contract, J.C. van der Linde & Venter Projects had to replaster all the walls that were not demolished, and provide additional new walls, floors, and ceilings, as well as undertake the tiling of the walls. New lifts and lift shafts had to be provided, and - because noisy, high-speed driving regularly takes place on the adjacent track - double glazing had to be installed to improve interior acoustics and audibility, particularly for the safe driving lectures regularly provided within the premises.

Work on the contract started in May last year and was scheduled for completion in October 2014 but the building contract's period was extended to March this year to cope with the new  structural changes specified by the new consultants."In fact, the refurbishment project was so extensive that at times I felt that total demolition and rebuilding might have been a better option - but that's just a personal opinion," Joubert added. Faan Nel , of Arca Architects & Designers, commented: "The brief called for a building that would evoke and build passion for the Mercedes-Benz AMG brand, and our design set out to create a memorable and extraordinary experience for all visitors. J.C. van der Linde & Venter Projects' passion, commitment and attention to detail were invaluable to the highly successful end-result."

Pretoria-based J.C. van der Linde & Venter Projects is a member of the Master Builders Association North and company director, Charl Venter, is currently president of MBA North. The J.C. van der Linde & Venter Projects team that assisted Thomas Joubert on the provision of the new Zwartkops facilities were Johann Walters (Contracts Manager) and Gerrie Mostert and Dirk Bakker (Site Foremen).
The professional team for the project was:

Mercedes-Benz SA Project Manager - Phil Longbottom;

• Architects and Chief Agents - ARCA Architects and Designers (Faan Nel & Yolandi Smit);
• Quantity Surveyors - Taljaard Meyer & Storm (Fred Khors);
• Structural Engineers - Delta Built Environment Consultants (Delta BEC), (Schalk Neethling);
• Electrical Engineers - Delta Built Environment Consultants (DeltaBEC), ( Malcolm Grift);
• Civil Engineers - Delta Built Environment Consultants (DeltaBEC), (Stephan le Roux); and
• Mechanical Engineers - Delta Built Environment Consultants (DeltaBEC), (Ricardo da Silva).

The impressive new Mercedes-Benz facility is modelled on the motor company's AMG High Performance premises in Affalterbach, Baden-Wurttemberg, in Germany.  AMG models are the highest-performing class within the Mercedes-Benz range and hundreds of Gauteng Mercedes owners regularly use the Zwartkops Race Track to fully experience their cars' capabilities.