Can Kenya's Iconic Buildings Last 100 Years

Do you ever wonder, as you walk through the city, if the skyscrapers all around you will live to be colossal Methuselahs, or if they will give way to bigger, more imposing successors one day in the future?

That our time's marvels, these picturesque masterpieces, will one day fade away? Buildings, like humans, will eventually decompose. Even as they stand strong, the end is always in sight.

Some structures take decades to finally call it quits and pass the torch to their successors. However, some structures, such as the Megalithic Temples of Malta, which are thought to be the oldest free-standing structures on the planet, seem to last forever, withstanding thousands of years of extreme weather, earthquakes, and human activity. The temples were built between 3600 and 700 BC.

From approximately 2670 BCE to 664 BCE, Egyptian pyramids were built as a result of incredible artistry and breathtaking engineering. Some have crumbled under the weight of time, leaving only ruins as ageless reminders of what were once magnificent feats of human intelligence. Others, however, such as Giza's Pyramid of Khafre, have kept some of their smooth, original polished limestone casing.

Kipande House (on Kenyatta Avenue), All Saints Cathedral, Parliament Buildings, and the Kenya National Archives are among Nairobi's oldest structures (CBD). The Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) was built around a decade after Kenya gained independence, and Times Towers was built in the mid-1990s. Many other towers are much younger, but how long will they last?

According to architect Moses Okemwa, director of Amber Construction Ltd, a building's lifespan can be determined by its usability as times and needs change, as well as its structural soundness.

"Our building code makes no mention of building lifespan." Commercial buildings, on the other hand, are built to last 50 to 60 years. After that, they may become structurally unsound or be overtaken by ever-changing user requirements, rendering them unusable," he says.

If built to last that long, or longer, conscious effort must be made to ensure that such a structure conforms to changing needs, with regular renovations required to keep the structure habitable.

"Skyscrapers and other structures can be designed to last for more than a century." "A structure like New York's Empire State Building has now lasted for nearly 92 years, but there are always efforts made to preserve it and change the spaces to meet modern space requirements," Mr Okemwa says.

Cracks in an aging building, like wrinkles on human skin, appear alongside other indicators that age is finally catching up. And, just as professionals are pushed out of the job market as their skill set becomes obsolete due to cutting-edge technology only accommodating the most tech-savvy, often younger, workers, buildings frequently lose their place to newer, more modern ones as societies evolve.

"Structurally, when you notice failures in the support system, such as the development of cracks, concrete chipping off, or, if it's a steel structure, the members starting to corrode, you can call the structural soundness of a building into question," he says.

"Functionally, when a building does not meet the spatial requirements, it was originally designed to offer or due to changes in planning regulations that may require buildings of a specific scale to be built in certain zones of a city," the architect explains. "The bungalows built in the Lavington and Kilimani areas have now been demolished and replaced by high-rise commercial and residential blocks."

Enamoured of the very ancient, our most famous city landmarks could be preserved for future generations to see. The over 55-meter-tall Tower of Pisa in Italy, which leans by about four degrees, was built in 1372, with the foundation set in unstable subsoil, resulting in a tilt before construction was completed. The tower has survived for hundreds of years, defying the death knell that was sounded on it many years ago and in the years since.

Can the KICC, which looks perfectly solid, and other monuments that grace our city, stand the test of time and see the next century?

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