Royal HaskoningDHV completes laboratory for Mintek
May 2015
News
A new R13-million ISO 3 cleanroom and BSL3 laboratory were recently completed by consultants Royal HaskoningDHV for Mintek in Johannesburg. The facility will allow for the rapid development and production of diagnostic devices that are capable of diagnosing illnesses such as malaria in its early stages. Early diagnosis and subsequent treatment is a crucial life saver for those afflicted and is a major step forward in disease control for the country.
Walter van der Linde, project manager and mechanical engineer in Royal HaskoningDHV’s specialised cleanrooms division explained that there are very few design specialists in the country capable of meeting the exacting specifications required for BSL 3 graded laboratories and ISO 3 cleanrooms in South Africa – Royal HaskoningDHV being one of them. “The contract involved the design and site supervision of an ISO 3 Cleanroom, a BSL 3 Laboratory and manufacturing lab for rapid diagnostic devices including all mechanical, electrical, lab layout and structural services.
“The electrical services included the lighting, electrical reticulation to support the mechanical equipment, the switched socket outlets and power supply to the general lab equipment. Various services are supported by UPS and generator power,” he explained.
The mechanical services included the environmental control system, the UDAFs (uni-directional airflow), autoclave, the effluent system, the fumigation pass-through hatch, wet and gas services and the bio-safety cabinets.
“The cleanrooms team was also responsible for the lab layout and specifying the partitioning type and the shell of the clean rooms and bio safety laboratory. Input from our structural engineers was required to design the platforms which supported the air handling unit (AHU), safe change filter housing and the exhaust fans,” he added.
Royal HaskoningDHV managed all of the independently contracted services within the limited plant room and ceiling void space to ensure an installation that effectively conforms to international cleanroom specifications. Above all else it meets the client’s requirements for a facility that will give critically ill patients a fighting chance of life.
For more information contact Hillary Erasmus, Royal HaskoningDHV, +27 (0)11 798 6000, [email protected], www.royalhaskoningdhv.com/za
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