A mason keenly balances his feet on a thin piece of timber laid on one of the 30 metre high steel frames at the constructions site fashioning the almost complete the Oval commercial building next to the Visa Oshwal Centre.
Like a ship docking at the harbour, the edge of the building is sharp with the rest of the building having a unique half moon design which seems to be a favourite feature with most of the buildings that are coming up.
The oval shape of the building starts off with two small layers at the bottom, large ones in the middle and the top.
Next to this building is a complete structure that almost takes the same form, but this time, the 9 West building fuses two pure forms - a rectangle and half circle. The front side of the building is built like a semi-circle, as it towers up with blue glass panes all the way to the top.
Further to the west of the City is the Priory building in Hurlingham. Priory is also moon shaped. Whether these basic forms are what depict the changing face of real estate in the country is debatable.
Charles Ndungu an architect and partner with Triad Architects differ with the assertions saying the changing city skyline has little to do with form.
“These forms are basic shapes which have been in existence. The circular, or non-modular shape doesn’t in any way define modernity,” said Ndungu.
Triad is an old architectural firm founded in 1963. The company is the name behind big commercial and residential developments in the city like Longonot place, next to the Fairmont Norfolk hotel, British Council offices in Upper Hill and the CCK offices on Waiyaki Way.
Like Ndungu, Hannington Oluoch an architect and associate at Bowman Associate’s share the same view. Oluoch is among a team of nine architects who worked on ‘the Oval’ building concept. Bowman architects have a bias for pure shapes.
Most of their developments are rectangular or mooned-shaped. Their works include Eka Hotel on Mombasa road, the Junction, West Gate and Galleria malls.
The Coca-Cola headquarters in Upper Hill, Nairobi is another building that comes across as a contemporary structure. The moon-shaped building took a year to construct.
The design was done by GAPP Architects & Urban designers, a South African firm which won the tender for the project after their entry concept won in a design competition.
According to information on the GAPP website, the project brief was on an office development which captures Coca-Cola’s brand identity without being overt.
“GAPP used the Coke ‘DNA’, the ribbons which run through the logo. Once applied to the site, which is heavily constrained by road surrenders and building lines, the DNA strand took on a more compressed configuration.
The building’s form, however, is still generated by the lithe curves of the Coke,” says the project information on the site.
Triad was the firm selected to implement the concept with Ndungu as the project head and team leader. The building consists of 6,000 square metres of office and conferencing facilities.
“The complex consists of two wings set off from a triple-volume reception which acts as a hinge and provides views through the building to the gardens beyond. The office wing on the north is a moon-shaped segment with an indoor and outdoor garden behind a row of drinking-straw like pole lights,” states the GAPP profile.
The green designs like rain harvesting systems, solar lighting are among the additional features in the building. These fittings are a major feature of upcoming contemporary architectural designs geared to suit changing climate conditions, aesthetics and clients’ needs.
The Coca-Cola headquarters may be moon-shaped same as the Oval building that Bowman designed or dome-shaped like the soon-to-be constructed mosque in Adams Arcade, which was designed by Adnan Saffarini Engineering Consultants of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) who recently opened a branch in Kenya but the architects insist that these shapes in no way capture the evolving nature of the industry.
“The challenge is not so much the shape or form as getting the aesthetics you are looking for and meeting the clients’ functional needs,” said Oluoch.
Mahad Karani, an architect with Saffarini, is familiar with clients’ needs from the number of buildings they have designed in the UAE.
Excited by the designs the team of 750 designers have accomplished in Dubai, Karani says he presented one of his Kenyan clients with an abstract tower design but he was greeted with a firm “No.” The two finally agreed on a rectangular building concept.
The design of the structure incorporates a timeless finish. This also goes to show the clients position in any design concept. Designs have to take in developer’s needs as well.
Timelessness is another challenge that contemporary building designs are trying to address. Ndungu observes that a few years back, glass walls were the in-thing. Today, this has slowly changed.
According to him, developers should not go with trends but rather look at structures that will stand the test of time.
It may be difficult to predict clients’ demands 30 years to come, but the current buildings can be made timeless with simple forms.
Landmark
Kenya’s landmark building, Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC), was built based on a modest circular shape and has stood out as ageless because it still fits in comfortably with Nairobi’s increasingly modern skyline.
Karl Henrik Nøstvik, the architect may have thought ahead of his time when he designed the KICC in the form of an African hut - a simple idea that gave birth to an impressive landmark.
As much as some building ideas may be borrowed or some constructed based on a theme - like the Lilian Towers which is shaped like a maize cob, Oluoch does not see any relation between the shape and the timeless factor of the designs.
Ndungu also holds the same opinion saying there is nothing, even a jury which measures timelessness. The idea comes from people who appreciate it and perceive it in that manner.
His statement holds true when you think of Kipande house, on Kenyatta Avenue which is a national monument and yet it has nothing outstanding in structure or form.
- Business Daily Africa
