Ecofriendly mall sets new standards for developers

Teddy Kinyanjui (right) from Cookswell Jikos, explains how to use the jikos at one of the food production demos. Courtesy photo 

By Jan Fox

In Summary

• Once completed towards the end of 2015, the Hub will feature six separate buildings connected by open-air walkways with retail and office spaces, a medical facility, a fitness centre, restaurants, cafés and even a lake in its grounds.
• The second phase will see the addition of a hotel and a conference centre.
• The Hub’s design includes a waste water treatment plant, a system for harvesting rainwater and the use of energy-efficient lighting.

Karen has long been recognised as one of Nairobi’s greener areas, with its abundance of indigenous trees and proximity to both the Ngong Road Forest and the Nairobi National Park.

 

Over the last few years, however, the leafy suburb has become a hotspot for developers seeking high returns from commercial and residential buildings, a construction boom that is threatening to damage the environment.

There is one developer, though, that has recognised this risk, and is determined to sustain Karen’s natural charm.

The Hub is the new mall which, once completed towards the end of 2015, will feature six separate buildings connected by open-air walkways with retail and office spaces, a medical facility, a fitness centre, restaurants, cafés and even a lake in its grounds.

The second phase will see the addition of a hotel and a conference centre.

The developers have hired an expert consultant — Greenkey Environmental Solutions—to help reduce its impact on the environment and the surrounding infrastructure.

‘‘Greenkey monitors all of the environmental and health and safety aspects of the project. We’ve been on board right from the start—managing the sustainability of the design, the land impact, any potential contamination issues, water usage, the amount of waste generated, replanting vegetation,’’ said Amrish Shah, one of Greenkey’s directors.

‘‘As far as I know, it’s a first in Kenya for a project of this scale to hire an individual consultant to supervise and help mitigate its environmental impact. There is no suggestion of ‘greenwashing’ here at all—the developers are genuinely keen to make The Hub as sustainable as they can,’’ he said.

The Hub’s design includes a waste water treatment plant, a system for harvesting rainwater and the use of energy-efficient lighting.

READ: Karen residents get Sh4bn high end shopping mall

The water to be used for irrigation, the air-conditioning towers and for cleaning the floor, will be recycled. At least 50 per cent of the development has been dedicated to green spaces which will include the lake and a nature trail.

Both will form part of what used to be the Rusty Nail restaurant’s expansive garden, which once occupied part of the 20 acre plot.

Many of the mature, and indigenous, trees that made the restaurant’s garden so popular, have been preserved, including two big fig trees and a row of jacarandas. And some of those that had to be cleared have been replanted in a nursery on site.

Making a building as eco-friendly and sustainable as possible is one thing, but ensuring the same throughout the construction process is another.

One way that The Hub’s developers have done this is by providing energy-efficient jikos to the cooks who prepare lunch for up to 600 workers on site.