Over the last 15 or so years the growth of population in Kenya, more specifically of the population occupying the middle class has been exponential. This can be accredited to the rate at which urban development and foreign investment has increased creating a need for skilled personnel, who usually occupy the aforementioned class. This growth of the middle class especially in urban areas has created a demand for housing, and developers either from this country or abroad have responded to this by putting up housing schemes that cater for the needs of the market. The Government of Kenya has also come up with initiatives to try and curb the shortage of housing as part of the Big 4 Agenda, aimed at providing low cost housing.
The private sector however, has had to cater for the needs of those with more disposable incomes, hence the recent rapid growth of lavish neighborhoods that provide luxury housing facilities, such as the 17 storey residential apartment which is the subject of this project. The facility offers services such as a gymnasium, a heated roof top swimming pool, and ample parking spaces for the residents. It is located on Riverside drive on the outskirts of Nairobi city.
The task at hand was then to come up with a safe and economical design for the building, and provide drawings that would enable construction to take place efficiently. Analysis software (Autodesk Robot) was used to do a 2 dimensional frame analysis, which was counter-checked using sub-frame analysis using Microsoft Excel. The design was carried out in accordance with BS EN 1992.1.1.2004.The structural drawings were produced using AutoCAD.