1/8th acre land for sale, Ngong. Behind Police station. kes 3.5m
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Call 0721410684
Construction and Real Estate in Kenya in the wake of Corona Virus Disease.
During the Corona virus situation in Kenya, several aspects will be affected.
Rental income.
Majority of urban dwellers in Kenyan Cities rent their houses. With the lockdown and subsequent downtime of the economy due to the corona virus pandemic, many renters will not be able to pay rent. Landlords should anticipate for reduced rental incomes. Landlords can opt to reduce their rent amounts or offer moratoriums to their tenants.
Renegotiated Mortgages.
Landlords can also ask their banks to come up with better more favourable loan repayment options if the took bank loans to construct their buildings.
Airbnb
Landlords can also opt to use airbnb for short term stays on their unrented properties to bridge in the gap.
Construction costs.
With the current rules regulating public health such as the number of people in a Matatu, transport costs will increase, leading to higher labour charges. Also, the shakedown of the supply chain with quarries closing, food sources closing, this will lead to scarcity of building materials resulting into higher construction costs. Just before the Corona outbreak, steel prices in Kenya had already started rising, so with the Corona pandemic here with us, building materials especially imported ones will rise in price as they become scarce.
Sanitisation through UV rays from the sun.
Architectural designs where large openins are placed to bring in sunlight will help in sanitising the corona virus indoors.
Copper Door Handles.
Use of better materials in places that are frequently touched such as door handles and handrails is recommended. Copper has the lease amount of time that the virus can survive on compared to plastic and steel, so use of copper door handles and handrails in building finishes will go a long way in reducing the chances of infections going forward.
After the current corona curve is flattened , there will be other outbreaks over time so replacement of current finishes with new ones that are less likely to support corona growth is recommended.
Architect Francis Gichuhi Kamau.
0721410684
Environment Friendly construction.
This earthbag house located in Kericho, Kenya was designed by Architect Francis Gichuhi Kamau of www.a4architect.com. The use of soil as a major component in house building is very environment friendly.
In the wake of the Corona virus pandemic whereby imported building materials are hard to come by, use of locally available materials such as soil comes a long way in ensuring housing availability for all.
Natural Ventilation to keep internal air healthy.
The windows at the tip of the dome also make it easier for cross ventilation of the interior spaces hence keeping respiratory illnesses at bay.
Sunlight to sanitise internal air.
The skylight at the tip of the dome and in the middle of the living room brings in natural sunlight which is very effective in sanitizing interior air hence keeping respiratory diseases such as Corona virus away.
Room temperature.
The thick walls enable the room temperatures to keep warm when cold and cool when hot outside, giving the occupants very good living conditions that ensure respiratory diseases such as corona virus are kept at bay.
Architect Francis Gichuhi Kamau.
info@a4architect.com
0721410684
Building Design for healthier spaces in the wake of Corona virus in Kenya.
With the onset of Corona virus pandemic in Kenya, there is a need to improve building design to augment other healthy living practices that keep Corona virus infections at bay.
Air Conditioning.
For rooms that are already fitted with air conditioning, there is a need for system overhaul to replace the air filters with others that can trap corona virus and other pathogens.
The recent Corona virus infection in a cruise ship was linked to corona virus pathogens lodged inside the air conditioning vents.
In situations where air conditioning is the only option such a banking halls , then better filter systems will need to be installed.
Natural Ventilation.
In situations where the buildings are in construction phase or still in the architectural design phase, architects can minimize the use of mechanical ventilation and redesign the building to use natural ventilation where possible.
In situations where buildings are already complete and in current use, architectural interior design can be done to create natural ventilation and let in sunlight. Natural ventilation and sunlight has been known to cure respiratory ailments long before use of antibiotics was discovered and is still a very effective and cost friendly method to keep corona virus at bay.
Such banking halls can be architecturally redesigned to ensure there is cross ventilation and ingress of sunlight so as to sanitise the internal air.
Floor to ceiling heights.
The floor to ceiling height is a critical factor in determining internal room air quality. High floor to ceiling heights means larger air volumes inside the rooms hence better air quality.
Spaces that have been designed to hold alot of people such as banking halls, hospitals and restaurants require a higher floor to ceiling height. Spaces that have installed false ceilings such as most banking halls will require to dismantle the false ceiling so as to achieve the maximum internal air volumes possible for better aeration.
Windows.
Cutting up walls to create new windows will go a long way to assist in cross ventilating spaces and bringing in sunlight to ensure healthier internal air .
In already constructed apartments in Nairobi’s Eastlands area where the rooms dont have adequate natural light and ventilation, opening up the walls to introduce new windows will go a long way to ensure good air quality. Care should be taken to only open up walls that do not bear alot of structural weight to prevent weakening the building structure.
County Government building control.
County governments will need to enforce the building code since the current building code already points out such input needed for healthy air quality such as the minimum floor to ceiling height, the minimum distance between windows and the minimum size of window per space. When these inputs are not adhered to, the buildings that come up become breeding grounds for corona and other harmful pathogens.
Architect Francis Gichuhi Kamau.
info@a4architect.com
0721410684
Double volume living rooms have a height of 4 to 6m from ground floor level to ceiling level.
This creates spacious ambiance in the living room area.
Regions where its humid eg Mombasa require alot of indoor space with high floor to ceiling dimensions so as to achieve this.
Lights.
Chandeliers can be fitted in the middle, hanging all the way from the ceiling, to achieve a balance and sense of scale.
Window curtains can be the electric type to ensure ease of opening and closing.
Window glass can be the self cleaning type.
Art work.
Art work that spans from ceiling height level all the way to ground floor level on one wall makes the room more appealing.
Roof.
The roof can also be fitted with a roof window that brings in a kaleidoscope of light, with muilti coloured glass to increase the beauty of the room.
Architect Francis Gichuhi Kamau.
info@a4architect.com
0721410684
Sale.1/2 an acre,Ngong red soil all services available including safaricom fibre. All weather rd. Murram iko 3ft. Near olepolos shopping centre. 1km from juanco.
kes 18m
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Kiserian Isinya road, Oloitikosh. 2 acres for sale. kes 3m per acre
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Residential Maisonettes are usually 2 floor levels, ground floor and 1st floor.
This is not very heavy to the foundation, hence a lighter foundation design.
In the pictures below, the foundation has columns that will run through ground and 1st floor so as to form a support frame that will work together with the masonry walls to ensure the building structure is safe.
Strip foundation.
This type of foundation is called a strip foundation, where tunnels are excavated along the walls of the building and also between two columns so as to brace the building in the foundation underground.
Concrete.
Concrete is poured along the strips to form a network of beams connecting the column bases in the foundation then hardcore is filled up to soak up underground water and a polythene paper laid just below the concrete slab to ensure the internal rooms are free from moisture.
Labour.
Manual labour is used to excavate the foundation strips. On rocky foundations, specialized tools and equipment can be used to dig into the rock.
Red soil.
Red soil makes it easy for foundation constructions since it does not expand and contract when it rains or dries compared to black cotton soil. Red soil also makes it easy to carry out internal road works since its not as sticky as black cotton soil, requiring only the top layer to be dug by say 1 foot deep then hardcore is filled to stabilize the road works.
Architect Francis Gichuhi Kamau.
info@a4architect.com
0721410684
Construction and Real Estate industry in Kenya, 2020 January review.
In the month of January 2020, there has been a marked increase in construction of apartments and individually owned residential houses . This is due to the recent removal of interest rate caping, hence more people are now able to access bank financing for their projects.
Political leadership.
Previously, there was a marked increase in skyscraper type of buildings around Nairobi city, upper hill, westlands and Kilimani area. These mega structure type of buildings have since reduced after several Government monetary policy interventions were done , resulting in lower flow of huge billions into the country.
Amnesty.
From 2002 to 2012, during the Kibaki Presidency, the government was able to play around with monetary policies, thereby attracting lots of foreign funds into Kenya’s real estate such as CATIC,China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation, European Pension funds etc.
Also, amnesty for Kenyans to repatriate funds stored offshore helped to fuel the mega construction projects around the country.
https://africanarguments.org/2009/09/18/kenyas-economic-crimes-can-a-conditional-amnesty-be-meaningful/
Current situation.
Lots of buildings that were constructed then had good tenancy. With the current economic constraints on liquidity, some tenants have started reducing rents around the City in areas such as Ruaka .
https://www.tuko.co.ke/337371-godsent-nairobi-landlord-reduces-rent-by-ksh-5000.html
Some malls have also seen very low tenancy inspite of them offering 6 month rent free options to potential tenants.
Architectural design.
The most affected buildings are the ones that have not been designed to be customer friendly. Some malls in Nairobi have their designs built in a fort like manner, with very limited attractability to impulse buyers walking or driving past, hence very little traffic. Well designed malls such as Village Market are bursting in their seams due to the large traffic of humanity inside.
Apartments.
The same applies to apartment buildings. The most affected apartments are the ones that have their architectural designs without incorporating user friendly aspects. Some have poor ventilation, some have poor aesthetic appeal, poor finishes, crowded stair cases, limited car parkings , poor garbage disposals etc. These ones are the most affected.
Solutions.
Solution lies in redesign whereby the buildings are redesigned to incorporate user friendliness and offer space that is in current high demand eg room sizes, openings, outward attractiveness etc.
Architect Francis Gichuhi Kamau.
info@a4architect.com
0721410684
