BORAQS Examinations for 2011

English Point Marina Revisited

When hotelier Alnoor Kanji acquired a four-acre plot along Tudor creek near the Mombasa Showgrounds in 2007, he thought to himself: Why not put up some apartments and sell them off for a quick buck?

But that was before he took his time off one evening and sat there, studying the environment. “At the time we finalised the sale process, I hadn’t seriously thought of the type of investment we were going to put up.

“But after sitting there for a whole three hours, enjoying the luxury of the view, the tranquillity and the ambience, I knew I was sitting on not only a water-front property, but also a monument with huge potential,” he says.

“I went home, called my brother in London and told him we needed to change our game plan. My thinking was that, if we put up apartments and sold them, it would be a disservice to our tourist city.

“We had to come up with a facility that had a public component and boosted our tourism industry” says Kanji, who owns Pinewood Village Beach Resort in South coast.

Having lived in Vancouver, Canada — a town known for its water-front life — for over 10 years in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Kanji was convinced that the best land use they would make of the property was a marina.

From that point on, they started the hunt for the best architects to draw up plans for an international five-star marina complex.

Because of the complex nature of the project, the duo opted for the services of Broadway Malyan, an architectural firm based in London.

And so in two years’ time, the English Point Marina — for that is what the two brothers decided to name their project — will change the sea-front near Fort Jesus, Mombasa.

Estimated to cost Sh4 billion, the extraordinary development will move Mombasa higher up on the world map, and transform the tourist town into a luxury boats facility and water sports destination.

The complex’s four four-storey blocks consisting of 96 three-bedroom apartments and eight five-bedroom penthouses is designed in such a manner that all rooms have a sea view.

The apartment blocks will also be built in an elevated position on the creek overlooking Mombasa Old Town and the 16th-Century Fort Jesus, two important tourist attractions in the region.

The complex will also house a 26-room hotel, a spa, a gym, a five-star international marina, a water sports centre, restaurants and an underground parking lot for about 200 vehicles.

Kanji says the developer will manage the marina, while investors will provide accommodation by renting out their apartments.

The project design indicates that the marina will also be connected to Mombasa Island to ease traffic congestion at the Nyali Bridge, and will also be accessible to the public.

This convenient link with Mombasa Island will enable people to shuttle between Nyali and the town within a very short period of time by just taking a boat from the site Island, where a jetty has existed for centuries.

Keen investors are already lining up to own a section of the marina. Just two months after the contractor broke the ground to lay the foundation for the four apartment blocks, over 20 investors have committed themselves to acquire some of the 96 lifestyle apartments.

With each apartment going for over Sh50 million and the penthouse in the upwards of Sh150 million, Kanji figured that it would be difficult to convince somebody to cough all that money, so he invested in a model apartment adjacent to the property.

The marina will be the first of its kind along the east coast of Africa, and will join two others along the entire eastern coastline, from Cape to Cairo — one in Egypt and the other in South Africa.

It will have a capacity to accommodate 88 boats, with all facilities to cater for the boats that will include service and an oil jetty which, according to tourism industry marketers, will position Kenya, known for its safaris and pristine beaches, as one of the most favourable destinations for high-end tourists.

Source: Daily Nation

Architect Eric Kigada of Planning Systems talks about Nairobi's Urban Plan and how to build sustainable architecture in this city of four million.

Eric Kigada is an Architectural Engineer and member of the both the Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK) and the Board of Registration of Architects and Quantity Surveyors of Kenya (BORAQS). He has worked in Kenya and Germany on various projects. He is currently working with Planning Systems Services Ltd on projects including new factories; real estate planning, high-rise buildings and a fibre optic landing station that will change the Nairobi landscape.

[caption id="attachment_1434" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Eric Kigada making his presentation. Sadly KPLC was there to show us the other side of light - Source: http://njathika.blogspot.com"][/caption]

Multi-billion shilling properties may be demolished in bid to expand city highway by Dave Opiyo

[caption id="attachment_1428" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Part of the new Sameer Business Park on the city’s Mombasa Road. The building is among properties that face demolition to pave way for road expansion. Suleiman Mbatiah | NATION"][/caption]

Multi-billion shilling landmark buildings on either side of a major city road could be demolished in a new expansion plan.

The properties to be affected on the busy Mombasa Road include sections of Sameer Industrial Park, Standard Group Centre, Simba Colt Motors Ltd, Excel Chemicals Ltd, Kenya Shell Limited, Real Industrial Park Ltd, Alfa Motors Ltd, and Twiga Stationers and Printers Ltd.

Also in the list are Asshowton Holdings Ltd, Caribon Ltd, Three Bees Park, Laboratories and Allied Equipment, and Bodo Holdings amongst others.

They are part of 50 individual and limited companies, which are set to lose their land as the Ministry of Roads prepares to further expand the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport-Museum-Gigiri road.

On Tuesday, the Institute of Surveyors of Kenya could not immediately put a value on the buildings that will eventually be pulled down, but said that due to the fact that some of them took millions to construct, they could be collectively worth billions of shillings.

“It is very difficult to put a value on the said property,” said Mr Mwenda Makathimo, the chairman of the surveyors’ institute, who is also a valuation and property management expert.

Late last year, the government signalled its intention of acquiring the land under which the buildings have been constructed with the publication of a gazette notice by the Commissioner of Lands dated December 31.

The government can under the Land Acquisition Act compel an individual or a company to vacate land, but the landowner has to be compensated first.

In the notice, Mr Zablon Mabeya, the Lands Commissioner, asked the landowners to inspect the project plans at his ministry in a bid to prepare their compensation claims. Hearings on the same are scheduled to start in March.

A section of the landowners have already petitioned Roads minister Franklin Bett for details of the road project and the rates at which they will be compensated.

But some argue that the parcels they will be left with would be of little economic value, adding that the chief government valuer could short-change them on the value of their parcels.

They also reckon that with the delay in the start of the project due to a row between the World Bank and one of the contractors, they should be allowed to use the land much longer.

However, Roads minister Franklin Bett said that the row would be resolved by the end of this month. There are suggestions that the controversial contract could be awarded to a Chinese company.

A Roads ministry spokesperson said the land acquisition would be handled according to the laid down procedures and asked those affected not to panic.

Source: Daily Nation

Rise of ‘gated’ society in urban Kenyan estates by Mwaniki Wahome

[caption id="attachment_1423" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="The site plan of Kihingo Village, a gated community coming up in the suburbs of Nairobi which will be featured soon in Architecture Kenya"][/caption]

During the colonial period, estates in Nairobi were clearly demarcated along racial lines - European, Asian and African. Access to the European quarters was restricted to African domestic workers. Then, discrimination was in vogue and defined such arrangements.

That was then. A new demarcation in housing estates is fast taking root in major towns albeit in a different way - through gated communities - mostly dictated by security and the need to cut costs by the home hunters.

While some see it as a development that elevates Nairobi to a status consistent with other cities, there are those who see it as failure by city authorities to provide basic needs to the public.

According to wikipedia, a gated setting is a residential community or housing estate containing strictly controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles and automobiles and are often characterised by perimeter walls and fences.

And the unintended result in the increasing number of gated communities is isolation, with housing estates defining social-economic class. The stand-alone home owners are giving way to estates that seek to provide security in numbers. Some have membership code of conduct and share certain social amenities.

The phenomenon, that started in Nairobi is fast spreading to other towns in the country with Eldoret being the most recent to join the fray.

“The major driver of the gated community is security. Security has gone haywire in the country and the stand-alone house owners have borne the brunt,” says Mr Renigald Okumu, a real estate developer.

He said the sharing of facilities like electric fence, street lights, roads, sewer systems, swimming pools and the gym among others are some of the factors that are pushing potential home owners to opt for gated community environment.

However, Mr Kigara Kamweru, a lecturer in architecture and science at the University of Nairobi says the concept is not just confined to estates but is spread to commercial, institutional and even shopping malls.

“It is not just in housing but in broader perspective it includes even shopping malls. This is a sign of failure in city planning, where the public feel more secure by being in smaller more controlled communities. They (public) are reacting to the failure to provide security and public space,” he said.

“They are also concerned with maintaining certain standards in the estates, which is not offered by the authorities,” said Mr Kamweru.

He said marketing of the concept as lifestyle choice has made it appear desirable, but warned that it could in the long run result in social tensions.

“The city is a public place at best where even a stranger should feel at home. This process of privatising cities through appropriation will lead to tensions,” said Mr. Kamweru.

Mr Okumu, however, said estates like Buruburu and Umoja began in similar a way with controlled environment but things started changing after original owners sold and left houses to new owners not bound by the code of conduct.

“The concept is gathering momentum and we are likely to see more of these gated communities. Initially the gated communities had about 10 units but they are growing larger and larger,” said Mr Okumu.

Such estates like the Green Golf estate in Thika and the proposed Tatu City in Kiambu are expanded versions gated communities.

However during its launch, officials behind Tatu City, whose take-off is bogged down by legal battles argued that it would not be a gated community.

Under the arrangement, developers buy plots for which they are provided with architectural designs of the houses they should build, mostly targeting the upper and middle classes.

Gated communities elicit different reactions in the world, with reports that post-apertheid South Africa has seen the rise of such estates mostly driven by security needs.

In Argentina, the middle class which lives outside, regard those in gated estates as rich and flouting their wealth.

They refer to these estates as ‘countries’ or private neighbourhoods.

In Saudi Arabia, establishment of such estates increased as Europeans and Americans sought protection in the 1990s, when they increasingly became targets.

Some critics say gated communities give false sense of security, with limited access to other people giving a conducive environment to a criminal, while large numbers in open communities are able to detect and prevent crime.

Source: Daily Nation

Africa Symposium, October 5-7, 2011

The International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) and Jomo Kenyatta University are planning to hold an Symposium on African Landscape Architecture Education and Practice this year in Kenya.

Below is the first announcement for the Landscape Architecture Education and Practice in Africa Symposium to be held in Kenya this coming October 5-7th.  A detailed programme will follow. Included will be a Student Competition, Workshops, International Speakers and Tours.  We would like to see attendees from all parts of Africa.

EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI) FOR CONSULTANCY SERVICES

Architects and Engineers Wanted

A leading Architectural Firm based in Nairobi wants to hire qualified Architects and Civil/Structural Engineers with at least two years experience.

Competence in Archicad, Autocad, Artlantis and 3D Max is a must.

If you have the qualifications send your brief portfolio and CV to architectsfornairobi@yahoo.com before 20th January 2011.