Durban — Leading consulting engineering and infrastructure advisory firm Zutari has registered the first Green Star-rated hospital in South Africa.
When Rand Merchant Bank’s South Africa Pandemic Intervention and Relief Effort (Spire) fund required assistance to boost the country’s critical care capacity during the Covid-19 pandemic, it turned to Zutari.
The consultancy assisted with heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) upgrades at Livingstone Hospital in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape and King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban.
Zutari was also tasked with completely refurbishing the high care unit (HCU) and intensive care unit (ICU) at Dr George Mukhari Hospital in Ga-Rankuwa, Gauteng.
At Livingstone, the installation was undertaken in an active Covid-19 ICU ward during hard lockdown.
In contrast, at Dr George Mukhari the ICU wards could be handed over for complete refurbishment.
Zutari collaborated with SM Mare & Associates Quantity Surveyors and principal agent Osmond Lange Architects & Planners at Dr George Mukhari. Its scope included structural and electrical work, wet services, fire engineering and HVAC.
The time frame was from April 2021 to the beginning of last year, with the HCU and ICU refurbishment running in parallel. However, the hospital had to maintain its ICU capacity due to Covid-19, meaning this portion of the project was extended to September last year.
Technical director Leon Esterhuizen, who has two decades’ experience in electrical engineering, explains that the refurbishment had to be designed in accordance with R158, the Department of Health’s specification for private hospitals.
“We carried out an assessment of the portion of the bulk infrastructure that supplied these wards to establish what was happening upstream.”
In the end this portion, along with the electrical installation of the wards, was replaced completely to ensure compliance. Other requirements were special lighting to allow medical staff to visually identify a patient’s condition, such as a blueish colour indicating oxygen deprivation. The facility also had to remain fully functional even during power disruptions.
Civil engineer Vincent Gieselbach said the refurbishment elevated a public-sector hospital to a private-sector level.
“To build it up to that standard was the challenge,” he said.
Zutari quickly ascertained that the existing sewer and water mains required additional repairs. In terms of fire engineering, being an ICU and HCU facility, critical patients must be evacuated in their beds by nursing staff or firefighting personnel in the event of a fire. Therefore, escape routes had to be widened to accommodate beds.
In addition, the entire facility must contain the spread of fire and smoke.
The building was deemed to be non-compliant as the X-ray and HCU units were connected via ceiling boards, which meant a new firewall had to be constructed.
There were numerous ramps throughout the site due to the high number of level changes, which required careful consideration of fire door placement and operation.
There were also various challenges in terms of the wet services installation due to the age of the existing infrastructure.
To ensure plumbing installation of the two units was upgraded to modern standards, all new hot and cold water pipe materials, with a new central hot water generating plant, were installed.
Another major challenge was the decades-old external reticulation, for which no as-built information was available, thus requiring a detailed assessment before work could commence.
Structural engineer OJ Ojayi said the main challenge was that the hospital remained “live” during the refurbishment.
“We had to pay close attention to where the existing services were located so that we did not disrupt them,” he said.
Trusses had to be checked structurally if they could accommodate extra loadings, such as a new ceiling and additional services and reinforced where required.
“We had to try to reuse as much of the existing material as possible,” said Ojayi.
WhatsApp your views on this story to 071 485 7995
Daily News