The new Dental School / Integrated Teaching Facility continues to evolve – inside and out

I will shortly be retuning to the UK for a month, so before I leave I am posting this quick update on the continuing progress of the new building. Much has happened since my previous post.

The structure is slowly becoming surrounded by scaffolding and netting as a prelude to the extensive bricklaying that is to follow for the facade.

The shuttering has now been removed from the service pods on the roof and brick in-filling has commenced.

The external brick skin will be a very important feature of the building and is specified in detail by the architect. The contractor is refining the practicalities of the construction process and Leon Grobbelaar from JMP is due to visit shortly to review the sample walls before confirming the way ahead.

Inside the building, the central atrium has now been cleared of scaffolding. As part of the significant progress with the interior bricklaying, the walls on both sides of the lecture theatre space have been completed:

As increasingly more walls are built, the internal structure of the new facility is beginning to emerge:

One of the most exciting recent developments is seeing the partitions being built that will separate the individual dental chairs in the teaching clinics into cubicles. These dividers will provide privacy for patients but allow clinical supervisors to keep a watchful eye on dental students as they carry out treatment procedures.

Electrical services are now appearing inside the building, providing further evidence of the rapid progress underway:

Significant progress is also being made with the early stages of the landscaping around the building. The deep trench that was previously present along the basement wall on the north elevation is now virtually filled with soil:

The soil compaction shown in the previous post has continued at every stage of the infill process:

Preliminary earthworks have also begun on the eastern side of the building …

… where once again compaction is being undertaken carefully:

The large number of galvanised ties that are required for use by the bricklayers are not currently available in Malawi, so they are being individually produced on site from galvanised wire. The wire is manipulated into a figure of eight shape by bending it around a jig and then twisting in the centre to complete the fabrication, as shown in this short video:

A team from the funder of the building, the World Bank, carried out a site inspection recently, and the visitors were pleased with progress. Before the team arrived, there was time for some informal chat among the local team, including a discussion between our Clerk of Works, Jess Bailey, and Peter Chimimba. We first met Jess during a previous visit to Malawi by Leon Grobbelaar from John McAslan+Partners before construction started, and we are delighted that she is now so closely involved in our project.

On the basis of the pace of construction to date, I anticipate further major advances when I return in mid-April!

Article submitted by John McAslan+Partners in Architecture Today

Finally, a news item about the new building has appeared recently in Architecture Today. If you would like to read the illustrated article, you can view it here.