What we build
Building an apartment block
An apartment block is a different level of project. The structure is engineered rather than assumed, the approvals are longer, and the services have to be designed as one system rather than added room by room.
What changes above two floors
Once you go past two floors, the reinforced concrete frame is doing the work and the walls are just infill. That means the structural engineer leads the design, the foundation is sized on calculated loads rather than experience, and the concrete has to be tested rather than trusted.
The approval route lengthens too. Depending on size and location you may need a NEMA project report, a fire access review and a formal drainage design, and those take time that has to be in the programme from the start.
- Engineered frame, tested concrete, certified steel
- Water storage, pumps and a riser designed for the whole block
- Waste and stormwater designed as one system
- Parking and setbacks decided by the county before the design is fixed
Where the money goes
On a small block, roughly a third of the cost sits in the frame and slabs, and about a fifth in finishes. Lifts, generators and boreholes are the items that move a budget most, so decide on them early rather than adding them at the end.
Questions we get asked
- How long does approval take for an apartment block?
- Plan for three to six months from the day drawings are submitted, longer where a NEMA project report is required. Counties differ, and the queue matters as much as the paperwork.
Also worth reading
Holiday homes and Airbnb units
Nanyuki has become one of the strongest short stay markets in Kenya. Building for guests is not the same as building for yourself, because every decision has to be judged against what it adds to the nightly rate and how it survives a stranger using it.
Rental houses and bedsitters
Rental blocks are judged on one number, which is what a unit costs to build against what it earns each month. Everything else follows from that, including the finishes, the layout and how much you should spend on the parts tenants never see.
Planning an apartment block?
Tell us the plot and roughly what you have in mind. We will come and look, then give you an itemised figure and a programme.