Category: A4architect

Wardrobe designs for Bedrooms.

Kes 80 million.

4 bedrooms upstairs. 3 ensuite and one with a shower and toilet beside it.
One family / TV room upstairs, 3 balconies upstairs.
1 bedroom ensuite down stairs. Spacious living room and dinning area.
Island kitchen
A kitchen pantry, laundry room, one washroom at the foyer..two door garage that could be used for storage.

A two bedroomed guest house (servants qiaters) with a cooking and sitting area. Self contained.
All sits in half an acre.

Architect Francis Gichuhi kamau.
0721410684

5 Acres for Sale, Silanga Road, Karen

https://goo.gl/maps/AYuT2TxvcsP2

Opposite Hon Nyachae’s Estate.

Kes 67m per acre.

Francis Gichuhi Kamau

Commercial Building for Sale , Ngara, Nairobi

Monthly income:
Ground floor: kush. 250000
First floor: ksh 400000
Second floor :ksh. 675000
Third floor:(hall) 50000
Total : 1375000

Sale Price. kES 100,000,000

Residential Bungalow House, Kirinyaga county.

Architectural design features.
3 Bedroomed.
Sunken Lounge
Flat roof
Rustic exterior finish.

Architect Francis Gichuhi Kamau.
0721410684

Floor and Wall Tiles , Sanitary Ware specifications for Buildings in Kenya.

WALL TILES
Coloured ceramic wall tiles: 250 x 250 x 8mm : first grade: from ‘Saj ceramics Ltd’ or equal and approved: fixed with ‘sealmaster 101’ or equal and approved tile adhesive: bedded, jointed and pointed in ‘sealmaster 201’ grout: : on and including cement and sand (1:4) backing: to

FLOOR TILES

Rustic ceramic Tiles: 330 x 330 x 10mm Thick: from ‘Saj’ ceramics Ltd: fixed with ‘sealmaster 101’ or equal and approved tile adhesive: jointed and pointed in ‘sealmaster 201’ grout: clean with approved detergent and apply ‘Johnson wax’ polish: allow for tile spacers: on

WHB

“SAJ”or equavalent,wash hand basin as semi recessed vitreous white china (500 x 415mm) with one taphole, taps, chain and waste 32mm, C.P. 32mm bottle trap with 75mm seal with 200mm long tail piece, capnuts and wall flange, brackets including fixing

WC

“SAJ”or equavalent water closet; comprising WC pan; low level 9 litre cistern; side inlet; internal overflow with valveless fittings; inlet connection; flush pipe and chrome plated lever; black plastic seat and cover; including fixing pan to floor and cistern to wall with screws and plugs

SHOWER

“Cobra” shower fitting; comprising 15mm stop cocks and shower rose; floor trap and galvanized mild steel outlet grating.

Architect Francis Gichuhi Kamau.
0721410684

Apartment Building for Sale, Kahawa Wendani, off Thika Road. Kes 100 million.

35 units. 31 are two bedroom and 4 are one bedroom

Rental income 818,000 per month when fully occupied

Interior Office Partitioning at Karen.

The office is located in a 4 bedroomed bungalow within a half acre land along Karen road next to Karen Country Golf club.

The aprea between the living room and dining room is being separated using aluminium sliding door with white vineer MDB Board infill. The aluminium is poweder coated white anodised.

White framed aluminium merges well with white coloured veneered MDF board to bring out that official executive look.

Hardwood doors.

Restriction of pedestrian movement from one room to the other is done using Mahogany hardwood doors fitted with electronic smart card opening security systems.

The hardwood door is painted using gloss clear varnish to give out a shiny look that matches with the mahogany floor wood blocks.

The new door frame is bolted into the masonry stone and anchored using 2 x2 cypress timber to ensure its safely and securely set in place.
The finishing at the space between the ceiling and door frame level is infilled with MDF board covered using mahogany veneer sheet stuck using Pattex adhesive.

Architect Francis Gichuhi Kamau.
0721410684

Earth Architecture in Kenya.

Questions and Answers.

1. Is it true that mud houses are good at conserving heat and probably that’s why older people prefer to live in them?

Yes, earthen buildings have superior thermal qualities compared to most other building materials. Earthen houses are warm during the night and cool during the day, giving a very conducive living environment in the inside.
On he lowest scale of heat conservation is mabati houses which tend to be too hot during the day and too cold during the night.

2. Also would a sudden change in environment for instance from a mud house to a stone house affect these senior citizens (could this be the reason well wishers in Western Kenya opted to build the granny a mud house?)

Yes, a sudden change from a mud house to a stone house for an octogenarian who has lived in a mud house all their life will affect them as they try to acclimatize to the new environment.
Modern stone houses have some chemicals emitted from the materials used eg the wardrobes and furniture off gas formaldehyde, a known carcinogen.

3. What are the pros and cons of mud houses?

Mud houses have advantages such as lower cost of construction, perfect thermal capabilities and have very few hazardous chemicals used in their construction if any.
Their disadvantage is that they tend to have a very high maintenance cost, need regular repairing since the materials used are not as strong to withstand day to day use.

4. What factors make mud housing more efficient and sustainable than the houses we now live in?
Mud houses have a lower construction cost, have zero hazardous chemicals used in their construction materials and overall help to reduce the carbon footprint into the environment.

The USA and South America have re energized the use of earth as an architectural building component through earth bag housing technology.
Architect Nader Khalili of Cal earth institute in California has dedicated alot of resources in re introducing earth-bag houses into the USA and the rest of the world.

Architect Fernando Pacheco of Brazil has also revolutionized the use of earth bag technology in South America with his hyper adobe type of construction, surpassing Nader Khalilis super adobe method of construction.

5. Does Kenya have an existing building code that focus on the use of earth as a building material and looking at the current skyrocketing home prices is this a good time to evaluate this issue and perhaps encourage earthen architecture and construction of houses using mud?

Kenya’s building code does not incorporate earthen architecture though if well designed by an architect, and supported by a structural engineer’s drawings and calculation, any County Government planning department will approve of this type of construction.

With the USA ans South America spearheading the reintroduction of earthen architecture through earth bag technology, Kenyans and Africans in general will slowly embrace this even though in Africa and rural Kenya, earthen architecture is symbolic to poverty and quite shunned upon.

6. Across the world there has been this talk on sustainable development, climate change and environmental conservation that has in a way renewed interest in earthen architecture, seen as responsive to these three factors, do you think this is something the government and other stakeholders should think about?

Yes, earthen architecture goes a long way to conserve the environment and reduce carbon footprint into the atmosphere. With the rising cost of construction, earthen architecture provides a very good solution to affordable and quality housing t Kenyans.

Architect Francis Gichuhi kamau.
0721410684