Akili Tower

Project Details

Project Description

FROM THE ARCHITECTS:

Richard Keep Architects, in collaboration with Henry Goss Architects, are delighted to announce that our design for a 30 story mixed use tower in Nairobi, Kenya, has been granted planning permission. The tower will be located on the prow of Upper Hill overlooking Uhuru Park and the Central Business District amongst a growing cluster of tall buildings.

It will include:
· Above and below ground retail and parking in the base,
· restaurant, bar and roof terrace at podium level
· office space and residential units in the main tower
· 2 large penthouse suites capping the building.

The form of the base is determined by the wedge shaped site and the continuous parking ramp which spirals around the central core. Above the podium, the wedge is mirrored around the building’s core and curved to create a plan form akin to the Masai Shield of the Kenyan flag.

This simple plan form is expressed in an elegant concrete clad framework with terracotta louvers giving a monolithic form. A glass curtain walling system is set back behind louvers within each 4 story bay, with angled solar panels built in to the exposed areas of facade. The layered facade varies behind the louvers depending on the use: Residential floors have terraces setback, whereas the office levels have a maximized floor area. The stair cores and balconies are located at either end of the building and become the continuous features which pin (or spear) the tower back to the ground level. The solidity is further broken down as the plan form gets narrower at the extremes, so the building becomes more transparent.

Ground works are due to start later this year with JEDNA as executive Architects.

Visualization:
One of the striking things about Nairobi is the lack of requirement for private developers to make any meaningful contribution to the surrounding area by way of infrastructure improvements or local amenities as is often mandated by policies such as the Section 106 agreement in Britten. This can result in some bizarre juxtapositions of new developments adjacent to areas of near dereliction and decay. In the rapidly evolving urban environment of the developing world these interstitial spaces often get filled in as the area becomes gentrified but in the interim the disparity can be stark.

Working closely with Richard Keep, The Boundary was afforded the freedom to graphically illustrate and exaggerate this observation resulting in some highly unique and unusual renderings not typical of the standard developers Utopian vision for such a project.