Month: March 2021

Residential Apartment, Njiru, Nairobi.

The Apartment is built on a 1/8th acre land. There are 4 units per floor on 4 floor levels. The ground floor is raised to allow extra parking spaces.

Bank financing options.

Assuming an interest rate of 12% per annum, and 50% of construction cost borrowing from bank, at a duration of 12 years, the interest rate repayment per month works out to kes 320,000. This equals the monthly rental income for the units so after initial investment of 50% of construction cost, the construction will repay itself from the bank loan in 12 years.

Architect Francis Gichuhi kamau

0721410684

info@a4architect.com

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Foundations on Black Cotton Soil in Kenya.

Areas such as Oloolua in Ngong have back cotton soils which require specialized foundation construction methods.

Some areas like in theabove picture are old stone quarries which have been refilled with soil to ground level. The soil is usually loose hence propert engineering design is required for the foundation.

If the solid rock depth is not so far, columns can be footed at the solid floor level then raised to ground level. A beam is erected at ground level, like 1 foot above the soil to prevent the expansion and contraction of the soil from affecting the ground floor slab. The ground floor slab is then reinforced same way with a suspended level slab then the house walling can commence at the ground floor slab level.

Architect Francis Gichuhi Kamau.

0721410684