Sh7 billion Nairobi tower competes as only skyscraper in Africa to feature among top ten buildings in the world

Image result for britam towerBritam Tower, a 31-storey office complex in Upper Hill, Nairobi, was officially opened July 2018 overtaking the nearby UAP Old Mutual Tower as Kenya’s tallest skyscraper.

The Tower has received the Emporis Skyscraper Award. This makes it the only skyscraper in Africa to feature among the top ten buildings in the world in the award’s nine-year history.
The Emporis Skyscraper Award is the world’s most renowned prize for high-rise architecture.
Winners are chosen by a jury of architectural experts from all over the world, while the nominated buildings are judged based on their achievements in functions and aesthetics.

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The Sh7 billion tower, which sits on 1.5 acres on Hospital Road, comprises two separate buildings: a 31-storey office tower and a 15-storey parking silo with an interlinking bridge at the top floor which offers alternative means of evacuation during emergencies.

The building has a total lettable space of 350,000 square feet with 1,000 parking bays and is ready for occupation by diplomatic missions, multinationals, and financial institutions.

Britam Tower, whose construction started in early 2013 and ended in September 2017, boasts a prismic shape and at its widest it looks like a black pyramid with the top corner missing and from other views it is a more slender black prism.

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The unusual design is achieved by having a footprint with four corners and then a roof with only two. The corners are crossed diagonally on the building to the upper levels as it tapers.

At 195 metres, Britam Tower is now the tallest building in East and Central Africa – and the third tallest in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“We have eight high-speed lifts to travel from the ground floor to the top floor in less than 30 seconds. These are the fastest in any building in Africa,” Britam Group managing director Benson Wairegi told journalists who toured the building on Friday.

Mr Wairegi added that the building will target diplomatic missions, multinationals, and financial institutions among other high-profile tenants.

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