The year 2016 has been vibrant in the construction and real estate sector.
Around Nairobi, Malls such as The Hub in Karen were completed and opened up.
The watermark Mall, also in Karen , is at around 40% completion.
2 Rivers mall in Runda area is around 90% complete and set to open early 2017.
The Mall concept has been improved, with much larger malls coming up. In 2017, we will see much more complex malls being put up, mostly by large multinational developers.
With the entrance of Carrefour and Game international brands, Kenya, more specifically, Nairobi, is gearing up to see 200,000m2 type of malls usually seen in South Africa.
South African Malls.
Gateway mall, South Africa, for example, has 220,000m2 of surface. That’s a whooping 54 acres.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-jh6xNBGCk&w=560&h=315]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateway_Theatre_of_Shopping
Gateway has 18 movie theatres, 6 Nouveau Cinemas, two 3D cinemas, a playhouse, more than ninety restaurants, more than 400 stores, an arcade and theme park, indoor fun fair, a 4000 sq. metre skate park , 3 Flow Riders, a gym, the highest fountain in Africa, a tenpin bowling alley, parking and a science theme park.
Midrand Mall, South Africa, is 485,000m2, roughly like 65 rugby fields.
https://www.enca.com/money/new-midrand-mall-set-be-biggest-africa
2 Rivers mall in Nairobi, with its approximately 50,000 m2 of built up area is slowly opening up the Mega Mall sector. In 2017, we expect other Mega malls to be conceived and designs to start as we move forward with the mega mall trend.
Highrise Housing.
High rise residential housing around Nairobi has taken shape now. Areas around Westlands, Ngong road, Kilimani have several high rise residential projects in the pipeline.
Projects such as 88 Nairobi, off Ngong road are leading in this trend.
This will be 40 floor of stylish luxurious residential apartments in Upper hill, Nairobi.
The project is still in design stage and construction will start in 2017. This will pave the way for mega high rise residential buildings, where currently, most residential buildings re around 10 floors high.
Steel Pre Engineered Building Structures.
As discussed earlier on last year on the 2016 trends, use of steel Pre Engineered Building technology was to become common.
https://www.a4architect.com/2014/12/2014-kenya-construction-real-estate-industry-review-forecast-2015/
In Nairobi, the Lenana Mount hotel was rebuilt again from scratch using Pre Engineered Building technology where the main structure is supported by steel instead of the usual reinforced concrete.
In Hurlingham, Sifa towers is also a good example of a recently completed building using Pre Engineered Steel support frame.
Also, use of prefabricated building technology will become more common as we enter int 2017.
New companies have set up shop in Kenya recently to offer products within the prefabricated buildings sector. There is one at Clay works, Thika road and a couple of others in Industrial area of Nairobi.
We at www.a4architect.com look forward to 2017 and would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you happy holidays and a prosperous 2017.
Architect Francis Gichuhi .
info@a4architect.com
