PROJECT INFORMATION
Building Area: 14 050 m2
Year Completed: 2010
Project Team: Gavin Schönknecht, John Harvey, Nicole Marillier and Steve Knott
Aspen Pharmacare, the largest pharmaceutical manufacturer in the southern hemisphere, increased the Group’s Oral Solid Dose (OSD) manufacturing capabilities through the construction of a new strategic high containment facility at its Port Elizabeth site.
BRIEF
High levels of containment, manufacturing and services segregation, operator protection and large throughput volumes were required for the two dedicated and independently serviced suites, operating within a negative pressure environment.
The facility would require the employment and adaption of readily available materials, components and technologies within the South African market in order to create a built environment and interior to support the client’s brief.
SITE CONTENT
The site, located within the heart of the extended Aspen campus, presented significant challenges which influenced the production flow and consequently the built form, namely:
- Available site extents: width 35 m & length 106 m
- Retention of existing warehouse to north-western site edge
- Retention of existing services to south-eastern site edge
- Cognisance of future SVP2 production facility to south-western site edge
- Creation of new linkages to the existing campus in terms of waste transfer, new wastewater treatment plant, API/IPI delivery and finished goods dispatch and pedestrian routes, while maintaining a pre-determined level of segregation.
SOLUTION
The client’s brief coupled with the site challenges and specialised production requirements meant:
- Two dedicated, completely separate and independently serviced suites
- Linear production flow of materials and personnel
- Service zones located adjacent to and above production areas
- Perpendicular waste removal flow
- Location of receiving and dispatch at building extremities
- Extensive services platforms suspended from overhead structure in order to minimise column impact
- Total segregation of all services between independent manufacturing suites
- Development of specific detailing and quality control procedures to ensure negative pressure regime relative to atmosphere
- Segregation within each suite, in terms of GMP requirements, to ensure multiple product manufacture
Due to the overall scale of the facility within the restricted environment, various components and materials were expressed/articulated to mitigate the impact of that scale. These included:
- Over-scaling of the entrance façade and use of corporate colours. Conversely, the limited internal foyer area was emphasized through the use of available volume
- Projection of components beyond the building envelope to maximise available internal floor area, while enabling façade articulation coupled with the use of texture and a limited colour palette
- Cladding and fenestration arrangement allowing varying visual dynamics to feature on the façade, while providing visual relief to operators and feeding deep natural lighting into building core
- Expression of various piped services, service bridges and fresh air/exhaust louvers and loading platforms at various points along the façade
Further initiatives employed:
- Enormous energy savings realised through the recovery of heat rejection for wash-in-place process cleaning, heat recovery coils for pre-heating/cooling of HVAC air supply, heating of domestic water supply
- Single pass HVAC system with high levels of filtration due to toxicity of facility
The above enabled the facility to have complete validation processes, trial batches and successful GMP audits from both international and local independent auditors, with critical acclaim in terms of build quality, layout/flow and programme.
SAIA AWARD OF MERIT
AWARDS COMMITTEE CITATION
“The overriding impression that this building creates is the immense complexity of the functions that it accommodates: The complexity of controlling the internal environment where production takes place, the complexity of the services that keep the processes running and the complexities of a restricted site coupled to a time-pressured construction period. However, maybe what is most important is the apparent ease and professionalism with which the architects have handled this challenging project.
Aspen Pharmacare, the largest pharmaceutical manufacturer in the southern hemisphere, needed this facility for the group’s Oral Solid Dose manufacturing processes. This also had to be a high containment facility. The building actually accommodates two dedicated and separately serviced production facilities. Within these, there had to be manufacturing and services segregation, all operators had to be protected at all times while large throughput volumes were required. All facilities had to operate in a negative pressure environment.
The site itself also presented its own challenges. Limited space was available, while the existing buildings and services had to be retained. A new wastewater treatment plant had to be created, and delivery and dispatch of products had to be taken care of. A further aspect was the emphasis on the efficient use of energy. When the building is viewed and analysed, it becomes obvious why the so-called industrial buildings have been such a huge influence in the architectural world. Here the aesthetics emanate from the tectonics and the exacting technical requirements. Everything that is seen is required and nothing is superfluous. It can only be hoped that the rest of the architectural profession in South Africa will take notice of the achievements embodied in this building.
The brilliance of the building is brought to the fore when the intricacy of the cutaway isometric drawings that the architects have prepared are considered in detail. The bewildering complexity of the building is beautifully and accurately illustrated here.
This production facility has received much praise from the local and international bodies that assess and certify this kind of factory. From this, it is important to mention that it is perceived to be above the international standards and requirements. In this way, this facility is re-writing the norms and expectations worldwide. For this alone it should receive recognition. However, it is the architects who deserve the final accolade in that they could visualise this extreme complexity and that they could remain in control of it to produce a building with a deep-seated elegance.”
FEEDBACK
CLIENT COMMENT
Aspen Pharmacare has established a good relationship with Thembela Architects over a number of years and projects. As such, Aspen Pharmacare had no hesitation to utilise the expert services offered by Thembela Architects for our next project.
The project entailed the creation of a manufacturing facility with the capability for the manufacture High Potency products that would require high levels of containment, at its Pod Elizabeth campus.
The facility would have to meet stringent pharmaceutical requirements and be subject to audits from both local and international authorities,
The unique manufacturing processes and flows that stem from high containment and high potency production coupled with the hygienic finishes requirements, the heavily serviced building, the integration of production equipment into the building fabric and the physical site constraints, all contributed to unique challenges that had to be overcome.
The product requirements called for two totally segregated suites and the limited site area meant that the design evolved into two suites, located one above the other. The need for common access to the segregated areas, for material and personnel, meant that the design had to take cognisance of a common advent, then the transition to segregation and ultimately to culminate in a common product egress point.
The specific services, utilities generation and reticulation required a supply to both common and segregated areas, while in tum being either common or segregated in itself. The siting of the plant rooms was, therefore, critical due to its relationship to production areas, the environment, and the link to the central site services.
An added challenge for the project team was the short time frame required to completion. This was overcome by implementing a two-part construction program and limiting long implementation construction materials to minimal areas, while utilising materials conducive to faster construction times for the majority of the facility.
The culmination of all the requirements, is a facility that is above par on international standards and which has received very positive feedback from visitors and auditors within the industry and which will serve Aspen Pharmacare well in years to come.
Paul Roux, Project Manager at Aspen Pharmacare
7 Fairclough Road, Korsten, Port Elizabeth
Office: +27414072383
