Tight Deadlines is Amgahia’s Forte
This would sum up the experiences of Mr Amgahia, the Principal Partner at Amgahia Associates Architects, in carrying out branch refurbishments/fit-out works, for leading banks in Kenya within the last six years. During that period, the practice has designed and overseen refurbishment works for Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) and Cooperative Bank in various parts of the country.
In 2004, the practice was engaged by KCB Ltd., for their Ukunda Branch. After successfully completing this project, they were retained to work on the bank’s Mwingi branch the following year. In 2006, Amgahia were once again appointed to work on the Mvita Branch of Savings & Loan (part of the KCB Group).
Impressed with the ability to hand over crash projects within the prescribed time lines, without compromising standards or incurring extra costs, KCB continued with Amgahia, awarding them more works on their Mashariki-Likoni Road Branch in Nairobi’s Industrial Area as well as their Rongo Branch, South Nyanza, in 2007 and 2008 respectively.
“Of the KCB projects, Rongo and Mashariki branches were the most challenging,” says Amgahia.
What do you do if a client demands that they want a job delivered within tight budgetary limits and timelines and will not negotiate on extensions? Well, you dig in, power your computer and get it done!
Scope of Work
In Rongo,the works involved creating a new bank within an existing building that required extensive structural underpinning works. When the structure was inspected, it was found to be structurally deficient to accommodate a new banking hall, owing to the type of structural support system, a 6m grid with load bearing masonry walls in seven bays, supporting a suspended hollow-pot reinforced concrete roof slab at 3.6m height, floor to floor, and no internal or peripheral structural columns.
In order to create a new banking hall, it was mandatory that the load bearing masonry partition walls be demolished, but this would have led to total collapse of the massive building! To attain the intended aim of creating a spacious banking hall, extensive underpinning of new structural columns had to be implemented for stability and allowance for future vertical extension of the building that was already into its 20th birthday.
It necessitated several meetings between the owners of the building and the client to get the necessary budgetary approvals for authority to incur extra costs, to accommodate the new underpinning works, and cost sharing of the extra costs between the bank and the landlord. The Mashariki branch had challenges of its own, such as a very low ceiling and a requirement to design a unique boundary wall, with an extensive frontage at the junction of two major roads at the heart of Nairobis’ Industrial Area - Likoni and Lunga Lunga roads junction.
The project had the tightest deadline in that design meetings were scheduled on a daily basis for six days and the project proceeding to tender by the twelfth day, and the contractor proceeding to site within the month! In 2008, Cooperative Bank of Kenya Ltd. commissioned Amgahia to oversee the conversion of an existing building in Kangemi township, on the outskirts of Nairobi. The building contained bars and rental rooms.
It would take at least one year for the landlord to terminate leases of the tenants to allow for rehabilitation works. When the works eventually commenced, the banks timeline was delivery of the project within 13 weeks! “Design itself took one week”, remembers the architect. “It was a very intense programme requiring undivided attention”.
So does he always work with the same consultants?
“Not necessarily”, says Amgahia. “In some cases, clients bring their own consultants and change them as they wish”. According to him, the important thing is competence and good rapport among the team.
The Industry
On industry issues, Amgahia decries the proliferation of unethical practices across the entire sector. He points out such issues as zoning and land use in Nairobi which the City Council does not appear to pay much attention to. He is critical of the Council for allowing developers to put up highrise buildings in areas not designated for such development. In other areas where even a sewer line does not exist, developers have been allowed to put up massive buildings. Building codes get bent at will, he says.
“In some cases, developers go to young architects who have just graduated from university. These young professionals get tempted by the seemingly huge amounts of money they “suddenly” find themselves being exposed to and are therefore willing to bend rules, such as undercutting on scale fees and compromising on accepted building standards; hence the many cases of buildings collapsing as they are erected”. “In the process, they may actually get underpaid”, says Amgahia. He also wonders how an architect who has just left college can be trusted with a huge project. “They act as fronts , but the people who control affairs are the contractors-cum-developers and the young architect is largely a rubber stamp who may not even know what is going on”.
Recently, the Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK) published a list of members in the national press. Mr Amgahia, who is no longer an active member by virtue of ceasing subscription payments to the professional association, criticises this move, observing that the AAK was out to damage the reputation of practitioners who no longer feel its relevance. “AAK had no right to do what it did”, he says. “The body mandated to regulate the profession is the Board of Registration of Architects and Quantity Surveyors (BORAQS) and AAK is nothing more than a club whose membership is optional. As long as one is registered by BORAQS and has a practicing certificate, then he does not need to be a member of any other organisation, by coercion and misrepresentation. Talk about “touting for professional services!”
Fall out with AAK
Amgahia says he parted ways with AAK after he realised that it offered minimal value addition to the practitioner. In any progressive association, subscription charges levied annually must translate into tangible benefits for the members and not to maintain, literally, a talk –shop ! Ideally, he says, the association should assist members get commissioned for government projects and in the process create a stable job environment for the hundreds of young graduates from universities and technical colleges. It should also provide or facilitate scholarship opportunities for members to further their knowledge through technical courses and attendance of international seminars.
“It is important to maintain the dignity of the profession in the eyes of the public, by delivering quality buildings and built environments and not reacting after incidences of buildings’ collapse by rushing to the press as apologists of our own internal failures”, says Amgahia. “We must insist that standards are religiously observed as currently this does not appear to be the case. Modern day officials appear interested in their own welfare.” He continues: “The AAK has no mandate to trash other professional colleagues in the press and still claim it is an association for building professionals who remit annual subscription voluntarily and not by coercion or by the laws of the land. The AAK overstepped its mandate and hence is guilty of usurping the powers of BORAQS.”
Mr Amgahia founded Amgahia Associates Architects in 1991. He previously worked with leading architectural firms in Nairobi including Nyanja Associates, Ngotho-Viegas Associates, Joel Nyaseme and Associates, Symbion International and Planning Systems Services. He is a graduate of the University of Nairobi.
