Curro Durbanville, a school in the portfolio of JSE-listed independent education provider, Curro Holdings, launched a brand new, contemporary campus for the high school that is 9 800 sq² in size inclusive of the auditorium. The new campus is situated in Groot Phesantekraal, about 5km from the current campus, and boasts the capacity to house 1 000 learners with room for further expansion.

The new campus showcases the very latest in education space design, which has been crafted with a learner-centric approach in which student needs and aspirations have been taken into account throughout the design process. Throughout this campus, 4 400m2 Safal Steel products played an integral role in roofing and cladding. Of great significance from a roofing perspective is the specified usage of Safal Steel flagship product, Colorplus AZ200 (TCT 0.53) throughout the campus buildings.

According to the project architects, BPAS Architects, the design of the building height was kept moderately low by spreading the accommodation over wider floor plates, thereby relating to the surrounding context of the existing- and planned urban skyline. The architecture is non-stylistic, it responds to site conditions such as climate, contours, accessibility, and connectivity, resulting in a site-specific design.

“Inside the main education section, we adopted a bold deviation from the standard ‘school typology’ – the classrooms within four walls norm is now challenged by the concept of constant interaction between spaces. The classes become permeable and adaptive with furniture, such as combinable tables, designed specifically for the hybrid and flexible use of each space. This dynamic space is emphasized by the juxtaposition of the slanted columns. These columns symbolize the encouragement of diversity, uniqueness, and unconventionality in a collective and safe environment” explains design lead, Landseer Collen of BPAS Architects.

The primary skeleton of the building is concrete, exposed throughout the interior, including part of the roof. This use of concrete no doubt adds a considerable contribution to thermal stability, with its thermal mass and natural ventilation being kingpin passive climate control measures.

Indoors, openable windows and louvres on facades added to natural ventilation.  The atrium roof functions as a heat chimney, with constant cool air drawn in at lower levels from shaded areas on the façade.  All naturally ventilated areas make use of cross ventilation across enclosed passages.

Conventional steel trusses were used in the auditorium, hall and dance & drama studios to create free span structures for the respective spaces.  “The atrium required more finesse, where an inverted truss design was utilised with minimal end supports to create a perimeter skylight, with a ‘floating ceiling’ in the centre” says project architect, Theo Gutter.  The skylight had technical detail resolution to interface between concrete, aluminium, frameless glass and roof sheeting.

Much of the roof of the main student section is however exposed concrete, which matches much of its walling.

One element of the campus build that made exceptional use of pre-painted steel is the steel-clad auditorium, forming a prominent node at the main entrance. In addition, similar cladding was applied to the hall building. In both cases, the steel cladding formed by Safintra into its SAFLOK 700 profile, serves a dual purpose of roofing, walling and acting as a rainscreen.   SAFLOK 700 is an angular interlocking trapezoidal rib profile, presenting as a concealed fix profile with an effective cover width of 700mm.

Taking cognisance of the prevailing coastal conditions, the designers specified the use of Colorplus AZ200 TCT 0.53 in colour Raincloud.

Together, the auditorium and school hall form the sides of the giant ‘U’ shape that is the footprint of the school, with the school building itself at the core, which means that the steel cladding greets the visitor in a prominent way, leaving a big impression.

Safal Steel is a licenced user of the highly respected 55% Aluminium, 43.5% Zinc and 1.5% Silicon coated steel technology from BIEC International Inc. The company is the first and only licensed producer of this patented coating alloy in Southern Africa, which is used to manufacture the highest quality metallic and pre-painted coated steel used in roofing, cladding, and many other structural applications.

Safal Steel warrants its Zincal® and Colorplus® (colour coated steel) to have a service life (prior to perforation by weathering in the natural elements) from date of installation. Warranty periods are determined by Safal Steel and may vary according to project design and location. A Provisional Warranty may be applied for at project design stage; this warranty serves as a guideline as to the final warranty Safal Steel may issue on project completion. A Final Warranty application form may be submitted to Safal Steel by the roll former on project completion, requesting Safal Steel to issue a warranty for the specific material used on a specific project.

Look for the trademark. All Safal Steel prime material is branded on the backing coat – insist on Safal Steel material.

For any technical queries please contact Safal Steel and ask for the representative in your area.

Lead architects and implementation: BPAS Architects, Cape Town

Structural, electrical, civil engineers: KLS

Quantity surveyors: Calcoli

Collaborating companies:  MNK Project Management

Roof & cladding erector: Chartwell Roofing

Roll Former: Safintra Cape Town

Roofing & Cladding Material Supplier: Safal Steel

Project photos by: 3sixty Photography©

Drone photography by: BPAS Architects

Products used roofing and vertical cladding: Safintra Saflok 700 in Colorplus Rain Cloud AZ200 – 0.53mm