KENYA POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY COLLEGESCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND BUILT

ENVIRONMENT

DEPARTMENTOF ARCHITECTURE

AND BUILT ENVIRONMENTTITLE : A REPORT ON ARCHITECTURE IN NAIROBI

PRESENTED BY : AHENDA KEVIN OWINO

COLLEGE NO. : 111/00687

PRESENTED TO : DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE

AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

DATE : 20/04/2011

LECTURER : MISS JULIET

Copyrights observedDECLARATION

This work is exclusively mine through research and nobody has

presented it before in any institution.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Writing this report was very involving and I would therefore

like to acknowledge my lecturer Miss Juliet and course mates

for their support.

TABLE OF CONTENT

1. ABSTRACT

Introduction

Methodology

Objectives

2. CITY ZONING

Residential zones

Commercial zones

Industrial zones

Transport zones

3. PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH LACK OF ARCHITECTURE IN SLUMS

4. SUSTAINABILITY OF BUILDINGS IN NAIROBI

5. SUGGESTED GOOD AND BAD BUILDINGS IN NAIROBI

6. SHOPPING MALL

7. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

1.ABSTRACT

Introduction

Architecture is both an art and science of erecting

buildings. The buildings are meant to provide shelter for

humans, animals and plants in green-houses. The buildings

erected must therefore be stable, functional, and

sustainable and possibly have aesthetic value since

architecture is social with various reactions from the

society.

Methods of data collection

In writing this report, information and data was

collected through observation, library research,

interviews in kibera and industrial area and internet

research.

Objectives

a. To study city zoning in Nairobi

b. To establish problems associated with lack of

architecture in slums

c. To study sustainability of buildings in Nairobi

d. To determine good and bad buildings in Nairobi

e. To study functionality of a shopping mall

2.CITY ZONING IN NAIROBI

Zoning is a way of land use planning used by counties or

municipalities. It separates one set of land utility from

another. Its major purpose is t0 segregate land use that are

incompatible. The zones include:

1. RESIDENTIAL ZONES

This refers to land set aside to erect buildings for shelter

purposes. There are three residential levels based on income

of people:

a. Lower quartile

This residential zone shelters low income earners. They are

usually located closer to industries for its inhabitants to

provide skilled and semi-skilled labour. They are

characterized by shanties paid at least 400 per month to a

maximum of 700 per month. Examples are slums of Kibera,

pumwani and Mathare.

Kibera slum

b. Middle quartile

This zone comprises of middle income earners who provide

skilled labour in industries or business firms. The houses are

big enough to accommodate a family of five comfortably. They

include south B, south C, Buruburu Umoja

c. Upper quartile

This houses upper income earners who are well established and

stable financially. They include investors, managers and

professionals. Homes are owned singly. Such zones in Nairobi

include Muthaiga, westlands, Lavingtone, Karen.

2. COMMERCIAL ZONES

These are zones mostly within the CBD and other lands set

aside for government use, business purposes (small and large

retail businesses) and offices. Examples are:

KICC which hosts local and international meetings

Times Tower which deals with Kenya’s revenues collection

Times Tower in the CBD

KICC in the CBD

3. COMMERCIAL-RESIDENTIAL ZONES

These are zones which are for both business and housing. A

good example of such a zone is Upper Hill which was initially

meant to be residential but nowadays has commercial buildings

such as Coca-cola headquarters, Geminia Insurance Plaza.

4 .INDUSTRIAL ZONE

These are area of land on which plants and industries produce

goods and services. They are classified as manufacturing

industries (e.g. Lacheka Lubricants Ltd(K)), assembling

industries (e.g CMC) and warehouses (e.g Beta Health Care).

Deals with lubricant production.

4. TRANSPORT ZONES

These are zones planned for easement of movement from one zone

to another. They include roads, railways and airports.

Examples include Hailleselasi Avenue, Mombasa road, Ngong

road.

Hailleselasie Avenue

Railway transport

5.PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH POOR ARCHITECTURE IN

SLUMS

After visiting Kibera to observe and interview, the following

problems were realized:

a. Lack of infrastructure in terms of:

roads

sewage system

drainage system

running water

b. Congestion of shanties that result into catastrophic fire

outbreak and disease outbreak and spread.

c. Non long-lasting and durable houses

d. Bent houses due to poor foundations

6.SUSTAINABILITY OF BUILDINGS IN NAIROBI

Sustainability in architecture is all about resulting into

architectural from that are environment friendly. Whatever

architectural form that results should at all cost preserve

the available resources for future generation rather than

affect them.

Case study 1: Coca-Cola Headquarters in Upper Hill

It has been voted the most sustainable building in the CBD and

Upper Hill because of the following reasons:

Sun shading due to:

- South facade being entirely glazed

by a canopy

- Horizontal sun shading device

-Windows are located inside the wall

Shape and materials-use of light colour on walls and a canopy

to reflect most of the incident rays away.

Green ‘open field’ site- to filter incoming air and absorb

carbon-dioxide that is produced within its environs to reduce

ozone layer depletion.

Thick concrete wall- to reduce thermal transmission from the

outer hot environment to the inner cool rooms.

Case study 2: Geminia Insurance Plaza in Upper Hill

It is not sustainable because its walls are made of too much

reflective glass. It reflects a lot of light radiating heat

that affects the growth of plants around the building and also

affecting people’s eyes during sunny days.

Geminia Insurance Plaza

7.GOOD AND BAD BUILDINGS IN NAIROBI

Victoria Towers

This was my favourite building during the trip mainly because

of its simplexes and clarity of form. It is easy to identify

the shape: triangular prism; combined triangular and trapezoid

prism and a cylinder. Its base is a cuboids’.

It is very stable due to its wide base that strongly supports

the towers.

It mixes technology from concrete to steel then to glass.

Coca-Cola Headquarter in Upper Hill

This is another of my favourite building. It is curved shape,

wide translucent roof and a huge ball from its front view

makes its picture familiar and comparable to half a football

pitch. It is therefore iconic.

8. SHOPPING MALL

A shopping mall is shopping centre that is meant to provide

and satisfy the needs of customers within one shopping

centre.

Case study: Nakumat Junction

It is located 4m from the junction of Ngong and Jamhuri roads.

The organisation of space makes it serve its function better.

The organised and created spaces provide:

Ample parking at the entrance and basement

Banking services: Barclays ATM, Ecobank ATM, Equity ATM

Hotel services –restaurant

Restaurant

Different sections- groceries, bakeries, beverages and

drinks, detergents, footwear, clothing, furniture,

cosmetics, stationeries, e.t.c

9. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Conclusions

a) The different zones in Kenya are based on income levels

and are not fairly distributed. Due to inadequacy of

land, some zones have more than one functions e.g. Upper

Hill.

b) The problems facing slums (Kibera) are majorly caused by

poor architecture, lack of land administrators, lack of

urban designers and lack of building regulations.

Recommendations

The following are the recommendations for improvement of slums

(Kibera):

a) Interventions should address infrastructure by laying

good:

Roads to enable transport

Sewage systems

Running water system

Drainage systems to enhance flow of water

b) Decongestion of slums to reduce disease and fire

outbreaks

c) Architects should intervene to construct buildings that

are:

Durable and long-lasting

Made of weather resistant material

Affordable to low income earners

d) Creation of awareness about environment reservation and

management

e) SPIU-Special Programmes Implementation Unit- should be

put in place.