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
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.
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