The Place – A new phase to one of the oldest malls in Nairobi’s Westlands, The Sarit Centre. This particular area of the project is an extensive roof garden in the heart of the mall which will be used as an exterior foodcourt.
The Brief – To design a roof garden space as an exterior foodcourt allowing multi uses and seating in the space. Being the heart of Nairobi the idea was to try and create a simple green public space, for the general public enjoying the additional shops and external spaces of the mall.
The Design – As with most of our projects we really seek to extend the opportunities in the brief as much as possible. The space allocated for the roof garden was a strange angular form, as determined by the architecture. The landscape response is a simple design, seeking to provide a cooling forest and line of water in the heart of the bustling CBD.
We worked with the engineers to develop a suspended slab so the trees are a ground level and then designed a forest for the roof with the trees varying in density depending on the circulation and seating requirements. Due to the difficult drying conditions on the roof we choose to work with Ficus Benjamina to ensure the trees would perform with the limited soil depth and high winds.
This project is currently nearing completion.
