Pictured: Innovation in the building materials industry is of paramount importance. Concrete is no longer simply concrete, says Lafarge South Africa CEO, Thierry Legrand

Urbanisation is one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. In the coming decades, cities will change substantially as population growth is anticipated to occur mostly in urban areas.

Lafarge aims to play an important role in the improvement of towns and cities, helping people access better quality housing at a cost they can afford, with a lesser impact on the environment.

Building better cities emphasises the group’s position as a solution provider with innovative products, the expertise and unparalleled technical resources, as well as its commitment to help build more housing in cities, more compact cities, more durable cities, better connected cities, and more beautiful cities.

“Innovation in the building materials industry is of paramount importance. Concrete is no longer simply concrete. Quality and innovation make a huge difference to cost and ease of building technology performances and aesthetics. At Lafarge, we believe we have a marked difference and more than ever we want to develop innovative solutions to help build better cities,” comments Lafarge South Africa CEO, Thierry Legrand.

Lafarge South Africa is in the unique position to contribute to these ambitions through having a strong presence in all its construction related business lines: cement, aggregates, readymix, plasterboard and fly ash. The company has a well-established reputation for providing South Africa’s construction industry with innovative products, solutions and services. Through the entire mix, the company is able to provide:

More housing in cities:

Lafarge South Africa is contributing to building better cities by finding solutions to help the country’s drive for more housing. In Cape Town’s Happy Valley housing development, the structural frames for 1200 affordable houses are being built with Lafarge readymix concrete pumped into custom-made steel shutters. Lafarge South Africa’s local readymix team proposed using readymix mortar as the solution, enabling the customer to meet his schedules.The Lafarge product was highly successful. Given the consistent high quality and the increased productivity, the contractor decided to switch to Lafarge readymix plaster as well. Accelerating the construction of more and better quality houses meets a vital need in our South Africa.

More compact cities:

Lafarge South Africa is contributing to building better cities by offering space efficient solutions for construction of dwellings, commercial and retail facilities and leisure infrastructure.

The 75 000 m² super-regional Mall of the North retail development brought first-class city shopping to Polokwane, Limpopo. Lafarge Gypsum’s 6,4mm Plasterboard was used extensively throughout the project, providing an ideal solution for quality, space efficient interior finishes.  The unique construction of the Plasterboard ensures a cleaner cut and easier handling with reduced risk of breakage on site, while the superior finish reduces paint costs for customers.

More connected cities:                                                                                                                                

Lafarge South Africa is contributing to building better cities by providing materials involved in upgrading the transport infrastructure to ensure improved mobility for all people. Ash Resources supplied its classified fly ash products DuraPozz^® and DuraPozz^®Pro™ to major readymix concrete producers, who were involved in the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Programme (GFIP). Gauteng is South Africa’s economic heartland and the province’s rapid growth was being constrained by the ageing road network. GFIP consisted of upgrading and constructing 561 km roads and major interchanges.

More durable cities:

Lafarge South Africa contributed to building better cities by helping the construction of a new sports facility that will be enjoyed for generations to come. When Cape Town’s Green Point Stadium was constructed for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Lafarge South Africa supplied readymix concrete and service solutions. To avoid the problem of city traffic conditions impacting on the required high rate of concrete delivery and rigorous quality standards, Lafarge used two of its mobile concrete batch plants, back to back on the stadium site. The contract required over 135 000 m³ of various grades of concrete, including the Lafarge special value added products Ultra™ High Strength, Ultra™ Post Tension, with a guaranteed 3 day strength for post-tensioning purposes, and Low Shrinkage concrete for use as an infill between precast seats. Lafarge South Africa’s Tygerberg Quarry supplied all the aggregates.

With the dramatic escalation in urbanisation, efficient storm water management is an increasing challenge to reduce the risk of flash flooding and sustain natural water cycles. Lafarge recently introduced the highly acclaimed Hydromedia^™, a new fast draining concrete pavement solution in South Africa. Hydromedia^™ provides rapid storm water removal from streets, parking surfaces, driveways and walkways.

By focusing on the strength and longevity of structures, and by taking full account of environmental concerns, particularly energy efficiency of buildings and the reduction of our CO₂ emissions, we are able to help provide more durable cities. Lafarge has a full range of extended composite cements that utilise high performing fly ash. These products reduce CO₂ emissions, therefore helping build sustainable and durable cities.

More beautiful cities:

We are able to help create visually bold solutions by encouraging innovation in combination with performance and architectural expertise. Lafarge South Africa contributed to building better cities by providing materials for better aesthetic results on the recently completed beautiful Podium landmark building in Menlyn, Pretoria, where the company’s Agilia^™ Vertical readymix concrete supplied the aesthetic and architectural solution for the façade of this significant building. The architect specified high quality, patterned off-shutter finishes on all vertically exposed concrete walls and the use of standard concrete was out of the question. The exceptional fluidity of the unique self-compacting Agilia^™ concrete allowed it to flow easily through the reinforcing without the need for vibration, and produced exceptional finishes.Lafarge South Africa’s innovative products, services, solutions and value added technologies are helping to provide the country’s people with more beautiful cities, generating a sense of pride and place.