This new, three-storey hotel offers 127 en-suite rooms, including a disabled bedroom and six interleading family rooms. The hotel includes a beautifully landscaped garden featuring a swimming pool with an attractive water feature, and indigenous plants and trees.

Grinaker-LTA, a subsidiary of the JSE-listed Aveng Group, faced its fair share of challenges on this R58-million contract, but these didn't stop the dedicated team from meeting the demanding programme. Richard Moore, contracts director at Grinaker-LTA Building East, elaborates: "The challenges included the change from an internal drywall partioning system to brickwork. The complicated design proved a challenge in building up the internal brickwork, which tightened an already rigorous programme." Technical challenges were also overcome, with the unstable ground conditions of the site requiring the use of 96 piles and 145 reinforced concrete ground beams.

The other main challenge, Moore notes, was meeting the high quality standards required using local labour. "Transport costs prevented the use of our core labour from Durban," he explains. "As a result, we had the minimum core crew, and local skills had to be sourced as an alternative. This resulted in a workforce consisting of 80% local, basically unskilled labour." Grinaker-LTA rose to this challenge, however, providing on-the-job training in a range of construction disciplines. Local sub-contractors were also employed on this project wherever possible.

The hard work and dedication of the construction team has received praise from all of the stakeholders. When receiving the occupancy certificate, Dhayalan Naidoo, director of operations for StayEasy Hotels, stated: "Well done to the professional team, builders and the development team. This certificate is 16 days early."

Thea Marx, Liberty Properties general manager for coastal regions, described the hotel as the "best looking StayEasy ever" and thanked everyone involved in the project for their enormous effort. "Fantastic stuff indeed," she enthused.

The project team is also delighted to report that a DIFR (Disabling Injury Frequency Rate) of zero was achieved on this project, and that the construction team worked almost 400 000 manhours on this project entirely incident free - without a single LTI (Lost Time Injury). The contract won the MBSA (Master Builders South Africa) National Occupational Health and Safety Competition in its category for 2009.

This project has also provided Grinaker-LTA with an opportunity to become involved in a heart-warming community upliftment project initiated by the Liberty Midlands Mall. "'Reach Out' is an organisation that aims to help children and the elderly," Moore explains. "It is based in Pietermaritzburg and works mainly in the informal settlement of France, an impoverished community that has been gravely affected by HIV/Aids. At the local school, 300 of the 1 900 children are orphans. We learned of the organisation during our contract for the StayEasy Hotel, and we are now involved in a project, initiated by the Liberty Midlands Mall, to build a Community Centre for Reach Out."

The centre will offer a community hall, clinic and child advocacy office, to serve the orphans living in the France area. "This project will have a great impact on the lives of the people who will use the centre, and the entire StayEasy project and construction team was honoured to have the opportunity to assist Liberty Midlands Mall with this very worthwhile undertaking, by providing their services pro-bono," Moore adds. In addition, each company involved has contributed R20 000 in order to build this community facility at a marginal cost. Liberty Properties has contributed R2.4-million to the Reach Out project.