MRC GROUP: Building Envelope Contractor Fixed for Global Expansion

In building and construction, the often-misunderstood concept of the building envelope has been overlooked in South Africa for too long. Typically, a construction firm will work with an architect, quantity surveyor, and engineer to create spaces for clients. The standard of work across this discipline has been vastly improved in SA, and organisations such as the Green Building Council of South Africa continue to drive innovation in the sector. But the building envelope – the skin that surrounds the building, keeping it beautiful, warm, cool, and protected; and ensuring it stands as it should – continues to be neglected and offered as a bolt on or optional extra. For Richard Polling, Founder and Director of MRC Group, this is unacceptable.

His view is that an entire project should include all aspects of the property – including the building envelope, internal and external. Without an all-encompassing approach, maintenance costs and repair bills will be higher than they should, and longevity and sustainability of a building can be jeopardised. This is why his offering, the ability to design and construct, has become so attractive to big-name clients across various disciplines, and why those clients are increasingly asking MRC Group to bring its service to their locations in international markets.

NUMBER ONE

In 2021, Polling told Enterprise Africa that the company was showing true strength and achieving growth, finishing a passenger terminal project at the Port of Durban, demonstrating its full skillset for thousands of tourists to see each year.

But with that project complete, Polling is looking to the future and how the company, which is now widely recognised as an industry leader, can continue to bring excellence for clients.

“The concept that someone can do the whole building envelope in South Africa is an enigma,” he begins. “Most people have a skillset and that’s typically roofing, cladding, water proofing, or façades, and a lot of the contractors in circulation have been around for a long time, becoming good at what they do. The idea that a contractor can be good at everything – including all the details that interact between a roof and wall and façade; all the gaps – is quite difficult because of the skills required. It also means that this contractor must have a design element in what they do. Design and build is not often spoken of in the South African context.”

Finer detail is an area of expertise for MRC Group. Where the roof meets the walls, how the roof sits atop the building, how the waterproofing is laid, and how the cladding is protected all impacts the effectiveness of the building and even the smallest misjudgement can result in leaks, rust, inefficiencies, and the requirement for further spending.

When design is part of the process, all of the small aspects can be guaranteed, with the correct products being chosen, and necessary adjustments made in the construction process to ensure first-class, long-term performance.

“We work on design and construct, and we offer a turnkey solution,” says Polling. “A builder can give us a skeleton and we can do all aspects that make up the skin. We engage with architects and engineers, but we don’t take work away from them, we enhance what they do by bringing excellence. They don’t have to second guess how to support the building envelope or how everything is connected – we do all of that for them.

“We are now in the top five in South Africa, but as far as quality is concerned, we are number one.”

SIMPLICITY WINS

A building envelope should increase the performance of a commercial building, whether it’s a hot and technical data centre, a heavy industrial cold store, or a showpiece head office, there are certain expectations of a building envelope. With a separation between design and construction, overcomplication can be problematic. But when looking to create something truly ambitious – talked about by clients, and recognised by the community – too simple can be detrimental. This is why design and construction as one offering becomes vital and where MRC Group separates itself.

“There is always a challenge around being over complicated and much of the time, simplicity is the right answer,” explains Polling. “When clients want to make their buildings into signatures, we have to satisfy those demands. Some people come up with very weird and wonderful shapes and sizes, and everything has to be considered. A really good design and construct contractor will have a fantastic design base behind everything they do. From high-quality CAD draftsmen, designers, BIM experts, and the interaction between the engineer, architect, and QS as part of a team is key to ensuring on time delivery of building envelopes.”

In Durban, the new passenger building at the MSC Cruise terminal, is now home to thousands of intricately arranged Equitone panels on a composite structure across a concrete and steel frame, creating a first for South Africa and a flagship building for the city. Even in a complicated design like this, the envelope must perform its basic function and do so over an extended period. Without design and construction together, this is a project with room for error and that is why a specialist is required.

“The wow factor in what we delivered for the client was strong, and from an aesthetic perspective it was a real success.

“You have to understand how everything works together, both thermally from a movement perspective but also from an insulation, structural, acoustic, and fire perspective. These are all key considerations for the building skin and how it interacts with the skeleton. It’s very easy to over complicate and simplicity is generally the best answer for longevity of the building,” Polling reiterates.

GLOBAL PHENOMENON

A major trend in the construction sector right now is around data centres as the world’s tech giants look to build out infrastructure that will support the future of IoT and the digital revolution that is already underway. Driverless cars, automated delivery drones, video communication, online VR technology, and a general increase in internet traffic means that demand for new data centres is substantial. Complex buildings, with many requirements around safety, security, temperature control, and energy consumption, a building envelope is challenging.

“In the data centre space, there is a global phenomenon,” says Polling. “Requirements for data are astronomical.”

One of the issues is the heat that comes from the equipment. Often home to significant numbers of servers, as the backbone of internet traffic, a data centre envelope must be able to cope with the heat expelled from servers but also the cold pumped in from aggressive air conditioning systems.

“Understanding what products and systems can do, and how they can be utilised is very much at the fore. One of the challenges with data centres is the speed at which things need to be built. Generally speaking, data centres have to be built at real pace and maintaining the programme and quality is the real trick,” admits Polling.

“The data centre space is based around high-quality products because of the longevity of the site itself. Along with high-quality products, sustainability is very much at the fore. Understanding the long-term performance of the building envelope around a data centre, the implication on the environment in which it sits, the environment of where the raw materials come from, and the maintenance and recyclability of it at the end of its life is absolutely key. These things generate a lot of heat and use a lot of energy, so understanding how these can be built in conjunction with sustainable methods of generation and making use of the by-products is essential.”

MRC Group develops a 3D model for clients, which is very popular, asking them to position each and every piece of equipment and furniture into the space, so that the building envelope can be perfectly designed and tested before anything makes it to a build stage.

“The other thing that is vital is having an understanding of the data centre owners – that is key so that you can be ahead of the game, understanding that you will be in a project environment where there are multiple contractors all working together, and in sometimes tight spaces, with tight budgets is so important. Understanding the design dynamics that need to be achieved – from a security perspective, not just security of construction but security of the data centre and what is required from that so that designs can be understood and suggested long before they are required on site so that whatever product you may be looking to utilise, there is enough time to get these things manufactured. Being ahead of the game at all times is vital but challenging.”

Previously, MRC Group completed a large project for Neotel (now part of Liquid Intelligent Technologies), installing a new fire ceiling as well as different insulations, support substructures, and perimeter seals in a data centre setting.

These important projects look set to become more important for MRC Group, and for South Africa, as tech companies ramp up demand. But there is also a requirement from the owners for a certain standard of work, and MRC Group’s heritage in the UK positions the company perfectly to tap into this necessity.

“From a MRC Group perspective, the way data centres are built in the Northern Hemisphere is exactly the way that the big tech companies want to do things in the Southern Hemisphere. The problem is that there is a trust issue and we can bridge that trust as clients understand that we have great pedigree from the Northern Hemisphere and we are building the same way in the Southern Hemisphere. The insulated panels that we use are the world’s best and they are not often used in Africa, so we are in a very strong position as people lean on our experience,” explains Polling.

VITAL PROJECTS

At any time, MRC Group can be working on assignment all over South Africa – and further into the sub-Saharan region. But the company does not prioritise projects, instead it treats each as significantly important in order to deepen relationships with clients.

“All of our projects are vital as all of our clients are vital,” confirms Polling. “The dynamic force behind MRC is that we handle all aspects of a building envelope, whether that is cleaning gutters, coating part of a roof, constructing a turnkey project on top of the building that is home to the manufacturing centre of a global car brand, or building a shipping terminal. We look at all aspects and part of that is offering cradle to grave.”

Current projects include corrosion coating, water proofing, and work with solar panels. Work in this field is significant in South Africa as its harsh climate – with strong beating sun rays, harsh winds, and severe weather patterns – make security around the envelope crucial.  

“We have the nature of the South African landscape at front of mind,” admits Polling. “We can’t just take products that work around the world and expect them to perform in South Africa.

“We are working on some of South Africa’s biggest and most iconic buildings that were built 40 years ago and haven’t had the maintenance they required. Our choice is often to take off the roof, take off the cladding, or to coat. The coating systems that we have access to in South Africa, through some of our amazing suppliers, means that we can provide a coating on a roof that not just matches a new build metal sheet roof but also enhances it.”  

Implementing the correct coating behind solar panels can also improve performance. The back of a solar panel often gives off heat and a coating on a rooftop can absorb some of that heat to help reduce downtime and improve production time. Of course, the correct coating can also help to ensure the rooftop is watertight. As the number of solar PV rooftop installations looks set to increase dramatically in sunny South Africa, this knowledge and experience will be essential for industry.

Alongside data centres and protective projects, the company is also set to roll out a number of façade projects and cold store installations as Polling explains.

“We have a number of large façade jobs with multicellular polycarbonate facades as well as some interesting and exciting distribution agreements that will come through over the next six months,” he says. “We are seeing a resurgence of people wanting us to come and do a turnkey job for cold stores with steel frames, insulated panels, metal roofing, dock levellers, concrete floors, giving a world-class cold store that is built to last the test of time.

“The next two to three years looks very exciting for MRC across all aspects.”

VALUE ADD

With many building envelope projects in South Africa needing to be overhauled by MRC Group when it comes to a project that it has not been previously involved in, the sell from the team is about adding value. By utilising a supply chain packed full of world-renowned companies, the added value achieved with MRC Group means reduced lifetime spend. For many, this is the key consideration.

“In every walk of life, prices are going up,” Polling remarks. “We come to the table and talk about value add. Sometimes, by using a more expensive product or solution, you can generate a saving when you look at the holistic picture. One of the reasons we look at cold stores, data centres, and warehouses as a turnkey project, you can achieve significant cost reductions when choosing the right products. In a cold store for example, by choosing a better, thicker insulated panel, you can make cost savings on other elements including steel support. So, by paying an extra R200-300 per square meter for quality panels, you can save R500-600 per square meter on your steel costs. We look at things holistically and the long-term operation of the building. By bringing in a certain type of product or system, and a certain methodology, we ensure the long-term performance of the building is enhanced and that means day-to-day running costs – including heating, cooling, HVAC – are exactly where they should be.”

This focus on value add also feeds into a wider initiative around sustainability. By creating projects that use less, operate more efficiently over a lifecycle, and are designed with environmental consciousness, MRC Group becomes a long-term partner.

“We talk about products, systems, and solutions,” says Polling. “When you take a product, you build a system with it, and you build that into a solution – that is our offering. We are constantly looking for value engineering, higher quality products, more effective ways of building.”

MRC Group has sustainability at its heart and delivers this through application of the best possible products that are thoroughly researched and tested beyond their limits. For this innovator, being more sustainable is about improving efficiency.

“If someone wants a value-add, long-term, efficient, strongly performing building – that is where we come into our own because of the access to suppliers, data, and design capability. We work together as a team with our clients – it’s not them and us. We constantly remark on sustainability and encourage spending a little more to create a much more efficient and longer lasting building,” says Polling, adding that more often than not nowadays there is an added emphasis on where materials are sourced, how they are manufactured, how they are delivered, and how they work in the long-term.

He also praises the MRC Group team for its work improving, and in some cases, initiating standards in the South African marketplace. The company was part of a team that identified uncompressed insulated systems could perform better in SA. Even at higher cost, uncompressed comes with the knowledge that energy is retained in the building, taking pressure off power generators and raw material suppliers, benefiting all parties. Eventually, SANS 10400-XA Edition 2 standards were amended as a result of the insight from MRC Group and others.

LONG-TERM PERFORMANCE

With a solid pipeline for the coming months and years, MRC Group will continue to leave its mark on South Africa, but in the longer-term Polling is keen to grow the brand beyond borders, creating an international partner for clients around the world. Originally born in the UK, the company has a presence there, and there is appetite for growth wherever clients need a sustainable, direct partner.

“As our company grows, I fully expect the amount of direct client engagement to grow. We are careful about who we work with, and we ensure our quality isn’t just talked about but is determined on the site to ensure we achieve long-term performance,” he says.

“We are involved in design, delivery, supply, and maintenance – and that makes MRC stand apart. Most contractors deliver a project, give a guarantee, and walk away. We offer long-term guarantees and the only way to do that is to offer comprehensive maintenance packages,” he says, adding that often these guarantees and maintenance agreements keep the company working hand-in-hand with a client for two decades.

Trust is key in relationships like those fostered by MRC Group, and its clients have successfully put trust in the business in South Africa. Polling is certain that this can be replicated elsewhere. “Marc and I as co-Founders and Directors have always been driven to grow the business in South Africa and Africa as a whole, but also in the Northern Hemisphere,” he says.

“We see MRC and what we do as a global brand and global phenomenon. The UK operation has always been there and we are looking to now grow that in tandem with the Southern Hemisphere. We are client specific – we have clients in SA that are based in the Northern Hemisphere – like PepsiCo, BMW, Mercedes, Walmart – and a lot of companies behind the data centres. It is natural progression to pursue those partnerships in the Northern Hemisphere too.”

With its unrivalled network of global suppliers, incomparable knowledge of the building envelope, and outstanding belief from clients, MRC Group has the perfect foundation from which to grow. 

“Once we understand what a blue-chip client is requiring, taking that knowledge to another country, utilising local labour, having a high-quality project team in place, and delivering a project that is on par with what we deliver in South Africa is what we do. Growth of our UK operation is important, but we are not stopping there. There will be other entities operating around the globe, but it will always be client driven and having a robust and close relationship with clientele that ultimately starts in South Africa,” concludes Polling.

With the GBCSA certifying just one building in 2007, followed by 50 in 2014, and 170 today, there is major space for businesses like MRC Group to thrive. According to the World Green Building Council, 80% of buildings that will exist in 2050, are yet to be built so there is much opportunity to build correctly from right now. As one of the country’s leading contractors, this pioneering business is truly transforming lives and driving home the importance of a sound and solid building envelope.