Category: A4architect

Moveable internal Building Partitioning.

Kamangu is located off Southern Bypass towards Gikambura past Kilimo Grand hotel.

The house is designed using balance and symmetry so as to achieve the aesthetics required. Symmetrical buildings tend to look better due to the less ‘hustle’ that the brain takes to decode and understand the shape.

The living room corner windows are supported by a single column to create a ‘light’ effect, whereby the whole corner area doesn’t look heavy from the stone wall support. The column is painted a dark colour close to the window tint colour so as to reduce the contrast and look like one element.

Use of Kiserian yellow stone as one line from ground to 1st floor while contrasting with Ruiru blue stone at the corners and in the middle provides a very cost effective method of achieving a great look without breaking the bank.

Use of Juja light greyish stone on the windows area also provides a cost effective method of achieving this great look .

Windows and Doors.

Windows have the grills fixed on the inside, with the glass part on the outside facade, giving a simple less -is-more look from the outside, increasing the aesthetic appeal greatly. This matches well with the simple fashion type of the whole building from the outside. The windows are wide and extend to like 1 foot away from the floor level, giving alot of ambiance and light to the internal spaces. With well fitted steel grills, preferably the tube type which are impossible to cut using metal scissors, the security is guaranteed while the sleek look is still maintained.

The main door is double – leafed, with glass infill, making it work as both a door passage way and a window that can bring in light from outside.

The dark thick ring beam cuts across the mid section of the building horizontally, making the building look much better.

The Stanley Hotel in Nairobi also has a similar dark thick ring beam separating the ground floor from the 1st floor level.

 

Roof.

The pitch is not very steep, around 22.5 degrees slope, made of steel iron sheets. The se can be the stone coated type for more insulation and longevity or the prepainted box profile type which cost less.

 

Architect Francis Gichuhi kamau.

info@a4architect.com

0721410684

Kiserian Town. 1/8acre land for sale.
Near PCEA Kiserian church.
Kes 2.5m

info@a4architect.com
0721410684

Dakar is a coastal city located on the west coast of Africa.

This is a residential house located in the outskirts of Dakar City designed by www.a4architect.com.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHX-yHTXfKg&w=560&h=315]

Plot Size.

The plots in this area are 10m by 15m, much smaller than the usual Kenyan size of 1/8th acre of 15m by 30m.

This has necessitated for a different type of building compared to the ones we have in Kenya . Residential houses here have to go 3 or 4 storeys high so as to accommodate 3 or 4 bedrooms. In Kenya, since most minimum sized plots are 1/8th acre, this gives enough room for 3 or 4 bedroomed houses to be 2 floor levels.

Room sizes.

In this design, the ground floor has a lounge and car park area, kitchen and guest room in the 2nd floor, more bedrooms in the 3rd floor and a family room, entertainment room in the 4th floor level.

Architecture style.

The Style that is mostly preferred in Senegal is Islamic, most Senegalese are Islamic .
www.a4architect.com has designed this Dakar house using Islamic architectural elements such as flat roof, detailed intricate doric columns, intricate wall patterns, arches over windows and doors, large balconies and stepped railing wall on the top most floor.

Security.

The ground floor has very few windows to prevent burglaries, making the building quite hard for a burglar to break in and gain entry. Crime rates in Dakar are just like in Nairobi. Check comparisons here https://versus.com/en/dakar-vs-nairobi

This has necessitated for architecture interventions to thwart possibility of crime/break ins.

Conclusion.

Dakar Physical planning and architecture responds very well to building in areas where land is scarse since they utilize verticality much more than in Kenya, with residential buildings spreading vertically in several storeys, stacking upwards, compared to Kenya where the buildings tend to sprawl and extend horizontally, reducing ground foot print. Reduced ground foot print reduces tha amount of land available for agricultural use, tree growing for sequestering Carbon from the atmosphere, hence more detrimental to the environment.

Architect Francis Gichuhi Kamau.

info@a4atchitect.com
0721410684

Maisonette house types in Kenya range from 100m2 plinth area to 1000m2 area depending on location and owner preference and budget.

In Eastlands area, Buruburu, Greenspan etc have maisonettes in the range of between 100m2 to 200m2, 3 bedroomed. Such sized maisonettes have the bedrooms within the small to medium size of 3m by 3m .  In this size of a maisonette, the stair takes in quite a sizeable amount of space, like 8m2, hence need to factor this reduction of liveable space by adjusting liveable room size. A same sized bungalow will have slightly larger rooms compared to a maisonette since the staircase space is not deducted in the useable space in the bungalow.

This maisonette here, designed and constructed by www.a4architect.com in Syokimau, is 100m2 in plinth area for the main house.

In Upmarket areas, most maisonettes are in the ranges of 200m2 to 500m2.

Areas such as Garden Estate, Rimpa, Karen have most maisonettes built in plinth areas of 200m2 and upwards. In such sized maisonettes, the bedrooms will be 4 or 5 and most rooms will be larger than average, with bedrooms being on the minimum size of 4m by 4m, kitchens in the range of 4m by 5m.  Vehicle garages are also included in the maisonettes larger than 400m2.

This maisonette, designed by www.a4architect.com in Rimpa, Rongai, is in the range of over 500m2 in plinth area, including servants quarters and garage.

This house, designed by www.a4architect.com located in Garden Estate, is 450m2 in plinth area, with 4 large sized bedrooms, garage and servants quarters.

Conclusion.

Maisonette sizes can vary from small sized 100m2 to large sized over 500m2 . Maisonettes in general save space since they prevent taking up of ground level footprint space by stacking up the construction on top of each other. These are a good way of making an impression. Maisonettes with 3 floor levels, i.e ground, 1st and 2nd floor levels literally stand out tall and impressive , making a good statement by the developer. This 3 level maisonette below , located in Kitengela, Police Sacco estate, designed by www.a4architect.com is a good example of 3 level maisonette .

Architect Francis Gichuhi Kamau.

info@a4architect.com

0721410684

Kiserian. Kaurrai Road. 1/8th plot for sale

 

500 meters from main Ngong Kiserian tarmac.

Well maintained all weather roads.

Beautiful views of the Ngong Hills.

Kes 2.8m

 

https://goo.gl/maps/n4UgsSXt5362

Email info@a4architect.com

800 acres Ilasit, Loitoktok for sale

 

Land has got a permanent river flowing though it.

Good red soils suitable for farming.

Power and all weather roads already in place.

Kes 400,000 per acre.

email info@a4architect.com

+254721410684

Architectural design to mitigate for natural disasters such as floods in design and construction of Buildings.

During architectural design, the first phase of design is the site analysis and feasibility study.

In this phase, the architect will visit the site and check out for physical features that show an area to be prone to floods.

Presence of vegetation such as reeds that usually thrive in swampy grounds is an indication of an area having occasional flood issues. Most of Runda and Langata are swampy grounds, with water logged soils at less than 1 meter deep of excavation.

This requires that the foundation designs be optimised to enable building in swampy grounds eg pier or raft types of foundations.

In an area near a river or lake, such as along Athi river, Greenpark estate area, a report from the Meteorological department on the history of the river or lake and how long the distance that the river extends during the rainy reason for the last 50 years will give a good indication

This requires that the building be raised considerably from the ground level and the foundation and structure be designed to optimise for swampy grounds.

Boundary walls will need to be reinforced to hold on rain water pressure and storm water drainage channels be well laid along the gravitational flow of water towards lower grounds, with the concrete channels having the right size as per the estimated water flow required.

Concrete open drain channels with side slabs are easier to construct than masonry channels, though slightly more expensive. This will be adequate to redirect rain surface runoff towards the natural flow of storm water drainage away from the building.

In Nairobi and its environs, the storm water drainage flows naturally towards Ruai area from Limuru and Ngong sides.

Roof surface water is also drained using gutters and directed towards the ground level open drains towards the natural water paths.

 

Architect Francis Gichuhi Kamau.

0721410684

info@a4architect.com

 

1/8th acre land for sale. Ngong. Bulbul, Kangawa road

1.6 km from Ngong road at Juanco.

https://goo.gl/maps/R1ms8QKxCmN2

 

Next to SGR Railway Station.

Kes 4m.

info@a4architect.com

0721410684