Working closely with the Department of Health in Kwa-Zulu Natal, TAL, a division of Norcros SA, has helped fast track an overhaul of the healthcare facilities at Clairwood Hospital in Mobeni, Durban. Originally converted from army barracks into a hospital in 1956, Clairwood Hospital required significant renovations in order to transform it into a functional modern space that is a key addition to the province’s quarantine and isolation centres.
The Clairwood Hospital
The Clairwood Hospital was under-utilized for the current health needs in Kwa-Zulu Natal, and rather than making use of temporary mobile hospital units, it was decided to renovate the existing building as a permanent part of Durban’s healthcare infrastructure. This renovation,however,needed to be completed very quickly, in the face of the increasing number of COVID-19 infections in the province. KZN Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu said that the COVID-19 facility, which was refurbished in just two months, will enable 154 patients to be isolated and about 40 to be quarantined.
GVK, the main contractor onsite, was tasked with gutting the interior walls of the hospital, fitting new partitioning, ceilings and electrics for the new wards across the 4 hospital blocks, with roughly 2 – 3 weeks allocated to complete each block. The site was operational 24 hours a day using two alternating shifts of workers to deliver on the tight project deadlines. Derek Logan Flooring, a TAL registered flooring applicator, stepped up to the challenge of preparing the 1000m2 hospital blocks with a TAL multi-level flooring system, prior to installing Polyflor vinyl sheeting.
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“As an older building, the surface beds did not have the necessary industry prescribed measures in place to prevent moisture ingress into the building,” explains Dylan Weweje, Coastal Sales Manager for TAL Construction Products.The flooring system comprised of TAL Vaporstop, a high-density vapour barrier installed across the entire project, providing an impermeable layer to protect the final vinyl floor covering from fluctuating and elevated moisture levels in the substrate. After suitable priming, rapid-setting TAL Screedmaster was used to deliver a smooth and level surface onto which the vinyl sheeting was installed. “This product system enabled a fast turnaround time of 48 hours from installation of the vapour barrier to the final floor covering” confirms Weweje.
Regular site visits took place during the project to provide support during application of the TAL products and to assist the contractors with queries and trouble shooting. TAL is proud to have contributed to the renovation of this hospital and to have played their part in supporting the country during the coronavirus pandemic. “The commitment of each partner in this project, from the architects to the main contractor, the specialized flooring contractor and the Department of Health,enabled us to deliver an excellent result in a very short space of time,” Weweje concludes.
