Category: A4architect

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

[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d1014.202102906034!2d36.67309617153489!3d-1.3496739038878591!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x0%3A0x0!2zMcKwMjAnNjAuMCJTIDM2wrA0MCcyNi4xIkU!5e1!3m2!1sen!2ske!4v1580797323467!5m2!1sen!2ske&w=600&h=450]

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

 

 

 

Real Estate Industry in Kenya. 2019 summary and 2020 trend predictions.

Bank loans.

The year 2019 has seen the bank interest rate cap removed .

Currently, banks such as Barclays bank are on 12.75% with NCBA bank are on 13% interest rates for construction financing.

During the period of interest rate caps, banks shied away from lending to citizens, leading to a reduction in the number of construction projects financed around the country. With this new interest rate cap removed, 2020 will see an increased construction hence a good year fro those in the construction industry such as hardware shops, building contractors and real estate agencies.

Technology.

Use of specialized steel scaffolding as opposed to using timber poles and planks is on the increase with the ban on forest cutting by Government.

Prefabricated panel housing has been on the decline after a few Government agencies used cement board panels for construction and it was found to be generally more expensive than using the traditional stone. Stone is lower cost and more superior in quality than the cement board panels.

Worldwide, prefabricated panel housing is still much cheaper since most countries such as China produce the materials locally. Prefabricated housing becomes expensive in Kenya due to high import duty and higher labour cost associated since most local fundis do not have the know how to construct using this method.

3 d technology.

3 D printing of building materials for facades and decorations is now on the increase. Alot of Kenyan entrepreneurs have set up 3d cutting shops in the city to serve the citizenry.

This technology will continue to flourish throughout 2020 since its cost effective and gives out a much neater work which makes lots of value for the developers.

Worldwide, 3D printing of complete houses will be in high gear . Kenya will have to wait for a few years for the 3d printing machines for complete houses to be affordable and be shipped to our country.

Solar and Wind Energy.

Wind farms in Kenya, Ngong hills and Turkana areas are now operational and are feeding lots of power to the national grid.

Solar farms are also coming up and hopefully by 2020, it will be possible for individual solar farm owners on their building rooftops to sell off power into the KPLC National grid like it happens in Europe.

Construction costs.

Cost of cement and steel has stabilized for the last 5 years with no major increase. The recent phase out of twisted steel reinforcement bars and introduction of ribbed steel reinforcement bars has causes a slight increase in cost of steel.

Architectural design.

The skyscape around the country is now being beautified by unique designs such as theis building coming up opposite KICC, between Police building and Deputy Presidents office along Harambee avenue.

The year 2020 will have such unique architecture funded locally as opposed to the current box-lie buildings that have come up along Ngong Road and Hurlingham funded from overseas/China where the uniqueness and architectural novelty has not been considered much.

 

Locally funded projects usually have a more rigorous competiton-like selection of the architectural design, resulting in better looking buildings.

 

Architect Francis Gichuhi kamau.

info@a4architect.com

0721410684

FLOOR DESCRIPTION

The constructive design provides outstanding fluidity all through the house. As you walk in through the front door you will discover a spacious living room which opens up into a well- appointed kitchen and dining area which are lavishly connected. There is a pantry, plenty counter-tops and cabinet space then finally utility closet with full size dish washer. The floor plan comes with a master bedroom and other two bedroom. The bathroom for the other two bedrooms is conveniently accessible from the bedrooms and has a linen closet. The master suite of this floor plan is equipped with a private full bathroom, walk- in closet and a massive window to capture savoy sunshine. The living room is well lit and well enough for a myriad furniture arrangement. You can also easily rearrange the furniture on the plan to correlate various layouts and choose the perfect arrangement. The floor plan presents each room dimensions, wall partitions, windows, and the position of electrical outlets and switches. There is a porch which make the living room to be extra lighted thus granting indoor-outdoor living. Spacious gourmet kitchen holds an island best for preparing food and casual dining. The floor plan comes with a car garage behind the two other bedrooms. Spacious laundry room from the main area of the house as from the master closet. Wet bar at the living room grants tremendous entertainment. The floor plans offers an expansive rooms in case of extra rooms are recommended. The master bedroom closet is expansive too. A den with closet and double doors is at the exterior of the house. With 3 bedrooms and 2 baths this floor plan makes a home excellent for a growing family which admires to have a gorgeous amount of space.

info@a4architect.com

Architect, Francis Gichuhi Kamau