Dental School building progresses at pace – a race with the rainy season.

I returned to Malawi on 5th November for my next block of six weeks at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS).

One of my first ports of call, on Friday 7th November, was the building site on the KUHeS campus where the new dental teaching facility is being constructed. Earlier posts about the construction process can be viewed here and here. I visited with Peter Chimimba and was astonished at the pace of progress over the previous six weeks whilst I had been in Scotland.

The first floor has now been added and the structure has begun to assume the shape of the model I wrote about previously. Peering into the interior it was even possible to make out the lift shafts, stairs and the stepped structure of the central atrium.

The site was a hive of activity with men hammering, sawing and pouring concrete…

The view from the basement level gave a very clear indication of the progress being made:

In one corner of the site, men were busy preparing the rebar for the reinforced concrete columns which will support the roof:

On Monday 10th November, the third formal site meeting was held, chaired by Patrick Calisse of MOD Architects.

After the formal meeting was concluded, I went on a walk around the site with Patrick Calisse and Soobhas Sobnack, our structural engineer, which was both exciting and illuminating. They explained to me in detail the drainage system that would protect the building during heavy rains:

We then ventured into the building’s interior. There was a dense network of scaffolding pipes providing support for the upper levels until the concrete has cured fully.

I followed Patrick and Soobhas into the central part of the building which will form the atrium. Seeing the stepped structure, which will be used as either lecture theatre seating for formal events or a communal space at other times, gave me a first glimpse into how the completed building will provide a very flexible educational space.

After climbing the steps, the view back towards the main campus demonstrated the scale of the project.

The view away from the main campus, towards the south, showed the extensive preparations underway for the construction of the next and final level of the building:

The target is to complete this final level before the rainy season proper begins, which will allow work to continue inside the structure, regardless of the weather. This represents a very tight schedule. Furthermore, the impact of climate change has resulted in uncertainty each year about the transition between seasons, and already in the last few days we have had several thunderstorms and some heavy rain. Time will tell!