Designing Kenya’s ‘Skyscrapers’

Last Updated 14 years ago by Kenya Engineer

Nairobi, Kenya’s Capital, is home of many tall buildings of magnificent designs. The history of tall buildings in Kenya can be traced back to 1968 when the first tall building was constructed. International House was built in 1968 and designed by I.B Patel and built in 1968.

It was the first building with two basements and the first fully air conditioned building. Apart from the  Kenyatta International Conference Centre; which was designed by Gordon Melvin and Partners, the Lillian Towers; a design of the H.S. Birdi & Associates and the Times Tower; a Howard Humphreys (K) Ltd. production, all other tall buildings found within- and some without- the Central Business District were  done by  I.B. Patel & Partner.

In 1979, International House suffered a major fire. It was reinstated using the guniting and epoxy-resin techniques that were introduced in the country for the first time. The building again suffered another fire in 2006.

 
In 1969,  Bruce House was built, then Reinsurance Plaza in 1977, Caltex House was next in 1979, Kenindia House in 1981, Fedha House in 1982, Lonrho House in 1987 and the I & M Building in 1994. All these were designs of IB Patel & Partner.

Other buildings in the neighbouring Nairobiarethe Rahimtulla Towers constructed in 1995, followed by Citibank a year later. In the Westlands areas, The Vanguard house and the Unga House came up in 1987 (same as the Lonrho House), the Eden Square in 2003 and Apollo Building in 2005.

In 1970, inspired by the design of the round shaped traditional African house, Gordon Melvin and Partners structured the design of the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. The hut shaped amphitheater was added as an afterthought. This 32-storey building was built by slip-forming method, as the pioneer in East Africa of building built in the said method. Since its official opening in 1973 by the country’s founding President Jomo Kenyatta, this Conference Centre has become of historical value all over the world for its traditional African shape and had the privilege of hosting many International Conferences since its opening in 1973.  In philatelic world, it has achieved the unique privilege of appearing on Kenyan Postal stamps.

Found at the junction of Moi Avenue and Haile Selassie Avenue is the Co-operative Bank House, better known as the “Bell Bottom House” as it resembles the ‘flare’ trousers that were the fashion trend in the 1970s. It is now referred to as the “Bomb blast building” as it was the only building left standing after the 1998 terror attack on Nairobi. It was constructed by the Solel Boneh International, which is Israel’s largest construction conglomerate.

Lillian Towers, a building which displays graceful purity with conically-shaped exterior resembling a maize cob, Kenya’s staple food, stands on University Way opposite Nairobi University main campus. It houses the Nairobi Safari club, with about 140 all-suite apartments. It was built in 1984.

Economic progress in Kenya as a country has had some alluvial influence on the building of some structures. These buildings are said to have come about when local investors joined hands with overseas investors and structural consultants, mostly in the hotel industry; In 1972, consultants from Israel contributed to the Hilton Hotel Extensions and the Hotel Serena a year later. Inter-Continental Hotel also invested in a touch of the USA in 1981.

Religious projects on a high scale commenced with Holy Family Cathedral, which is next to City Hall and was built in 1959.   At the time of completion, the Bell Tower of the Holy Family Cathedral was the tallest free-standing structure in East Africa.  It was followed by Hare Krishna Temple in Nairobi built in 1992; the Jain Temple of Nairobi built in 1985.

In 1994, experienced masons with  inherited skills got to working on the B.A.P.S Temple, resulting in a unique historical structure resembling ancient temples of India. Traditionally, temples have internal columns at about 3m centers. Over time, this concept has evolved and IB Patel created a column free structure. Considering that roof domes weigh 100 tonnes,  creating a structure which carried these weight plus the decorative roof was a structural challenge. This temple is the only one of its kind in Africa, and continues to interest not only the architectural world but foreigners, tourists and members of the public. The engineers for this project were awarded “Honorable Mention” in Structural Innovation Category by AAK in 2000.

The Rahimtulla Towers, which was completed in 1995 is quite prominent owing to its elevated location on the Upper Hill area, and was on the flight path of air crafts, which prompted the installation of the aircraft warning lights fixed on the steel-towered the top, only serving to increase the building’s height.

Then there’s Times Towers, built in the millennium year, a 38-strey structure that comes close to being a skyscraper. People from all walks of life considerate a photographic site, with the photos they take purporting them to be squatting on the capped top-most floor; which also acts as a “Helipad”. From the tower’s height, one can get a panoramic view of our founding President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s 12-foot life size statue.

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