What we build
Prefab and EPS panel houses in Kenya
Prefabricated panel systems, expanded polystyrene panels and light gauge steel frames all promise a faster house. Some of them deliver, particularly on remote sites and on very repetitive projects such as staff housing.
Where it works
Repetition is the key. If you are building twelve identical staff units, a panel system pays because the setup cost is spread across all of them and the programme collapses from months to weeks.
Remote sites are the other case. Panels are light, they travel well and they need less water on site than a stone build, which matters where water is carted in.
Where stone still wins
Thermal mass. A stone house at 2,000 metres holds the day's warmth into the evening, and a lightweight panel house does not unless it is insulated well. In the highlands that is a comfort difference you feel every night.
Resale is the other consideration. The Kenyan market still values stone, and valuers and banks are more comfortable with it. That is changing slowly, but it is the position today and you should know it before you choose.
- Excellent for repeated units and remote logistics
- Faster on site, less water needed, less waste
- Needs good insulation to be comfortable at altitude
- Check how your bank and your valuer treat it before you commit
Questions we get asked
- Are prefab houses cheaper in Kenya?
- On the shell, often yes, by roughly ten to twenty five percent. The saving shrinks once you add foundations, roofing, finishes and insulation, because those cost the same whatever the walls are made of.
Also worth reading
Tiny homes and cabins
A tiny home is a small, well designed house, usually under 50 square metres. Done properly it feels deliberate rather than cramped. Done badly it is a shed with a bed in it, and the whole difference is in the detailing.
Off grid homes
Off grid means the house makes its own power, finds its own water and deals with its own waste. Around Laikipia people mostly do it for practical reasons, because the nearest transformer is three kilometres away and nobody is coming to move it.
Container homes
Shipping container conversions have become a common sight, especially on holiday and Airbnb plots. They go up fast and they suit remote sites where a conventional build would be a logistics problem. They also have failure modes that nobody mentions in the sales photos.
Planning a prefab or panel house?
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.