Our building obsession for today is Society House, a 20 storey multipurpose development located on Cairo Road in Lusaka, a major business district in the city. Within the building is a Hilton Garden Inn, which features 130 keys and is the hotelier’s first entry into the Zambian hospitality market. This is part of the Hilton’s wider plan to increase its footprint across the African continent with several new hotels in the pipeline.

What was once Zambia’s tallest building has been infused with copper in its design which is synonymous with the area its located in, as Zambia is one of the largest producers of copper globally.

What makes the building remarkable is the fact that it was damaged by fire in the 1990s and was derelict for over a decade before a redevelopment by NAPSA (National Pension Scheme Authority) and ZNBS (Zambian National Building Society) brought it back to life in 2017. The building redesign was carried out by South African architect, Robert Sike through his company at the time Louis Karol architects. He has since moved on to start his own practice called Robert Sike and Partners. The redesign of this monumental building has reinvigorated the Lusaka skyline with its eye-catching designs.

Another prominent member of the project team is Bicoin Zambia Ltd, who served as project managers on the refurbishment exercise. In addition to the hotel and restaurants, Society House also comprises of office space, multilevel car parking space and restaurants. The buildings total footprint is around 60,000sqm.