Nairobi's UpperHill Business District Skyline is Changing

By Hilda Wanjiku, Upper Hill News Writer 

 Nairobi's UpperHill Business District Skyline is Changing

Nairobi is among the fastest growing cities in Africa. With it comes Upper Hill, a business district found in the largest capital city in Kenya. Upper Hill have been in the mouths of many across the globe due to its continued growth in the last few years. Upper Hill plays host to the iconic buildings in Africa and the world at large. Its massive growth has made local and international architects, investors, and developers to land in this business district for greener business opportunities. Upper Hill plays host to five mega projects namely; KCB Towers, UAP Old Mutual towers, Britam Towers, Hazina towers, and lastly the one that has sent tongues wagging across the world, the Hass Twin Tower. Among other companies who have moved their Headquarters offices in Upper Hill are Coca Cola, PriceWaterHouseCoopers, World Bank, and International Finance Corporation[IFC]. Generally, Nairobi has recorded massive change and rapid growth with Parliament Towers, Prism Towers and,4^th and 5^th avenue Ngong being built though not in Upper Hill but in other business districts within Nairobi city.

Prism Towers Nairobi (Google Images)

Hass Twin Towers, the most talked about in Kenya and across borders, is set to outdo Carlton Centre in Johannesburg South Africa, and take the crown of the highest building in Africa. The tower is also set to dwarf other buildings in Nairobi and be the tallest standing building in the city. That being not enough, the tower will earn itself a place among the tallest buildings in the world. The construction of the 70 floor tower commenced on May 23^rd 2015 and set for completion in 2020. The KSH.20 Billion project was designed by a joint group of re-known designers namely; Arch group Mein hart group and White Lotus group. Hass tower with 70 floors stands on a height of 300m[980ft], and a second tower which will be 45 floored tower. That justifies why many are referring to it as the Hass Twin Tower. Upon completion, the 45 floored second tower will consist of a lavish hotel tower. The second tower, which is a 70 floored tower will present a class of retail space, a helipad a parking. In addition, the building carries with it 200 residential houses run by Hilton hotel, a one bedroom, two bedrooms and three bedrooms fully furnished apartments. Still inside, the building provides three floors of basement parking, gaming zone and a luxury mall. In a post by Capital Digital Media, Hass Petroleum Executive Chair East and Central Africa Abdunnasir A Hassan during the laying of the foundation of the 20 billion project has this to say, ’The building will also have a helipad, which will be at over 800 ft., again making it the highest in the continent. We thought it is wise to put the helipad here so that people can fly directly to the hotel and beat Nairobi’s hectic traffic.’’ The building will also comprise of a 5 floor shopping, entertainment, restaurant, health spa, a gym and a infincity.

Upper Hill also homes a 32-storey 200m[650ft] Britam Towers, a commercial tower owned by Britam Holdings Limited. Britam offers a wide range of financial products and services. Britam tower was designed by GAPP Architects and Urban Designers with its principal Architect being Chris Kroeser. The building sits on an area of 31,500 M² of offices space to let. The building is an indication of a better match towards Kenya’s vision 2030.According to a post by Business Review, in June 2014, the building costed KSH. 7 Billion, stands on a 1.5 acres of land along Hospital road in Upper Hill Nairobi. Britam Towers, comprises of an atrium, banking halls, shops, and restaurants on the ground and a mezzanine floor. In an interview done and posted by Business Review, Britam Managing Director Benson Wairegi said, ‘This is our flagship project within a property development portfolio and it is driven by rigorous research that showed a great need for grade A property in Nairobi. Acorn group a real estate firm owns which 25% stake, oversaw the management of the property’’.

UAP OLD MUTUAL TOWERS

TRIAD architect in association with BPM architects international from South Africa were the designers and the supervisors of the 3.9 billion project estimated cost. The project commenced 20^th June   2011 and ended on July last year. The 33 storey building comprises of grade A office with minimum space of 3,000 square feet going for ksh360,000 monthly. In Business Review CEO Peter Mwangi on April this year said that they expect a 35%occupancy hoping to full occupancy in December 2018.The building graces our eyes especially at night with its magical exterior lighting since it’s among the most visible structures in the whole of Nairobi. The building has an exterior lighting system surrounded by led bulbs which are evenly spaced. On Jamuhuri day of last year, the building was lit with the four colours of the Kenyan flag matching the occasion.

KCB TOWERS

KCB tower is another building still accommodated in Upper Hill Nairobi, standing at a height of 99m (325ft) with 21 floors. KCB tower was started in 2010 and completed almost five years later (2015) the completion of the tower saw Kenya commercial bank (KCB), moving its headquarter offices to Upper Hill. The plaza has spacious offices and a parking accommodating a good number of vehicles. In addition, the plaza has with it a solar panel for additional power supply. Though the main tenant is KCB, the plaza offers other facilities such as conferencing halls and workshops. On matters of efficient operations throughout the building, the visitors have six main lifts at their disposal with one specially left for VIP. The construction which in estimation costed KSH. 2.1 billion, had ARUP as their environmental design engineers and a Chinese company WU YI, as its main contractor.

Another construction of a skyscraper is underway, Hazina towers, a project by NATIONAL SOCIAL SECURITY FUND (NSSF). The KSH. 7billion project with 39 floor count was designed by Mruttu and Salman Associates. The main designer is CHINA JIANGXI international whose work is scheduled for completion in December 2018. During its construction, the building suffered some delays from the court. The project was bogged down by the court after its stalemate with Nakumatt holdings over the construction of the additional 36 floors. According to reports posted by the Standard Digital Media on 27^th October 2016, the project was stopped after Nakumatt denied the contractor access to the building. On its side, Nakumatt Holding said that their columns needed reinforcement to support the additional weight. The ministry of public works also indicated, that the existing structure beams do not have the capacity to support a building of such a magnitude.as of February 2017, reports by the informer had it that NSSF had been granted permission by the court to precede with the construction.

Central Bank of Kenya pension scheme CBK also decided not to be left behind in the scramble for a space in Nairobi. The building is situated next to prestigious offices such as the Deputy Presidents Office and police headquarters in Harambee Avenue Nairobi. The construction will cost the CBK PENSION SCHEME KSH.2.49billion whose developer is Greenfield Developers.

CBK Pension House, Nairobi (Source: www.skyscrappercity.com)

The building will have a big enough parking accommodating 83 vehicles. The first and the fifth floor of the building will still have parking lots. The fifth floor will hold restaurant and an auditorium. The sixth and the twenty fifth floor will host elegant opulent offices. To top it up is pent-house at the top most floor.

PRISM Tower

Just like the name, prism is one of a spectacular design with a shape of a prism. You remember years back in school when you heard of a prism? Now relate what you heard to the shape of the building. Prism tower is a building whose design looks rough, complex and at the same time carries with it a sense of sophistication. The tower is a 34 storey building with a standing height of 133m.It is located at Third Ngong Avenue offers us a world class amenity such as gym swimming pool and a jogging track around the building among other amenities. The prism tower with its classical design will have an energy efficient glass façade exterior to minimize heat gain, and an intelligent light controls. The brain behind this magical building is from Kings developers.

Parliament Towers

Parliament t towers is a tower meant for expansion and also in heightening the security of members of the august house. The tower is expected to swallow the area from the intercontinental and Haile Selassie Avenue, between Uhuru highway and Parliament road. Upon completion, the access to the area will be a restricted area. The building which is a storey of 20 floors will cost KSH 10 billion. Though not much said about it, it’s evident that parliament tower will sit on a big piece of land, considering the many companies it will consume. It is not known whether the owners of the building will let their buildings go without a bit of reluctance, but what is clear is that the building will go down. All eyes will on the building to see how things will play out.

With the rapidness Nairobi is growing, there is no doubt that the city will turn to be the Dubai in Africa. We expect to see more buildings going up within the city and its outskirts like Kasarani as many companies run to keep up with the pace of their competitors.