Building Obsession: Britam Tower, Upper Hill Area, Nairobi – Kenya

Standing at over 200m high, the prismatic Britam Tower is our building obsession of the week.

Britam Tower is located in the Upper Hill precinct of Nairobi, Kenya. GAPP Architects & Urban Designers collaborated with Triad Architects to design this building for the British American Insurance Company. Upon completion, it became the tallest skyscraper in Kenya, overtaking the UAP Old Mutual Tower. The 31-storey tower has a 15-storey parking silo in a separate building, which is adjoined to the main building with a bridge, offering an alternative route of evacuation in the event of an emergency.

It has an artistic prism-shaped tower, which makes it a uniquely shaped building. The majestic structure, crowned with a 67m helical spire originally designed to be a wind turbine has a grand entrance that opens to a 6-storey atrium, embellished with high-grade interior fitting. Britam Tower allows for a 360º view of Nairobi’s best topography, according to the developers, Mount Kenya and Mount Kilimanjaro are visible from the structure on clear days.

The structure, finished with performance glass and shaded with ceramic baguettes, was designed with international safety and environmentally sustainable strategies in mind. It features a highly efficient glazing system, and a secondary screening structure to provide shade while making the best use of natural light. It also makes use of fittings and fixtures that are energy-efficient and harvests rainwater. Resulting from its high resource efficiency, Britam towers is the first recipient of the EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) certification in Kenya.