The year 2021 has only 3 days left before it ends. This year has ben dominated by the COVID economy which affected large parts of the global economy. Surprisingly, the year 2021 has seen lots of activity in the construction industry in Kenya, mainly the low and medium level segments in the outskirts of the city.
Areas around the city periphery have had shortages of fundis, specialized kill labourers, carpenters, masons etc due to the unprecedented high demand. Most middle class Kenyans embarked on land acquisition and construction of owner occupier houses. his resulted in a boom for hardware and construction material suppliers .
The high end segment , high rise office and hotel blocks around Upper Hill, Westlands etc had a slow down. Global Trade Centre, GTC Building, which as recently launched by President Kenyatta, was started in 2014, 7 years ago. The 42 floor building that houses JW Marriott hotel among other businesses is amongst the new buildings to dot the Nairobi high end real estate skyline. Newer projects of this magnitude have become fewer during the COVID period. Most new projects are within the middle to low segments eg bungalows, apartment blocks et in the outskirts of the city.
OMICRON.
With the onset of the Omicron variant, scientists , virologists are predicting the end of the pandemic, with this new variant being less fatal. This could predict the return to normalcy on the global economy scene which will open up the country for foreign investors to come in and develop these high end building projects such as GTC.
TECHNOLOGY.
Prefab technology which was very active a few years ago didnt get much inroads into 2021. Major prefab wall suppliers were less visible this year, with minimal advertising. Steel structure Pre Engineered Building systems were quite active, with the AAR Hospital along Kiambu road incorporating the steel structure support for the front wall facade.
2022 PREDICTIONS.
The hold back in the high end segment of the real estate industry will create a flood as developers rush to fill the gap that had been left by the COVID economy slow down. The middle and low ends of the construction segment will witness a slow down as people go back to renting as opposed to owning their own houses once COVID pandemic is through next year.
Construction industry is very slow to adopt new construction technology unlike say the electronic industry. The way we constructed houses 100 years ago is pretty much more or less the same way we mainly construct now. Next year is predicted to still reman the same, like 95% of buildings will be constructed in the normal traditional stone and mortar way , with a few developers experimenting with new construction technologies.
Architect Francis Gichuhi Kamau
gichuhi@a4architect.com
0721410684
Leave a Reply