Image Credits: Ramzi Towers The second shell has logistics such as security, storage, changing room facilities and the swimming pool on the ground floor. The apartment spaces coded orange in the section/plan at the top of the page. The 4 bedroom apartment spaces that span the ground floor level to level 7. The floor area of the section is between 315 - 365 m2. The ground floor level, has the first terrace. The upper level of this same shell (coded red in plan/section) above, features floor areas of 442 m2 and also consists of 4 bedroom apartments. This section spans level 8 (which includes a terrace) to level 12. | To call a spade a spade, the Ikoyi/Victoria Island districts are fraught with high value residential buildings with architectural outcomes that do not match the; potential, value and 'marketed' pedigree of their respective sites. These two districts, all too often feature 10-20 storey developments with shoe box designs, tapered roofs and concrete finishes that weather badly under the harsh conditions of the tropical Nigerian weather. Ikoyi/Banana Island and Victoria Island are supposed to represent not only the face of Nigerian property, but also one of the key markets in the entire African continent. The standard of the architectural outcomes, however pales to the quality that we have come to expect from districts such as Sandton in South Africa and Luanda Bay. There simply isn't enough innovation. Ramzi Towers, designed by International designers, Spark Architects, have injected a much needed dose of ingenuity into the market. The lack of construction know-how, led the Spark Team to explore the on-site fabrication technique (sprayed concrete). The method, will reduce both costs and time. This process, also enables Deux Project, the Nigerian contractors, to keep things in-house. Good architectural outcome is of course, not simply a question of the superficial, but rather synthesis. Ramzi Towers features a synthesis of solar control, optimized views, acoustic treatment and air tightness. The latter, allows for a greater degree of control, minimizing moisture, improving acoustics, air quality and allowing for more uniform ventilation. Ramzi Towers is in essence, an intersection of two curved triangular concrete shells. The first shell has the lobby, while the section coded 'blue' in the section and plan to the top left. represents the apartments This shell features floor areas of 301-346m2, consisting of 3 bedroom apartment spaces from level 1 - 7. The penthouses (above) are located within, this same shell once again and span from levels 13-16 and feature a floor area of 244 sqm on each level. Level 13 has, yet another terrace space also. |
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Image Credit for the Necom House, Union Bank HQ, Cocoa House, Independence House & UBA House diagrams goes to: AndersF (Skyscraperpage.com). Image Credit for the Carlton Centre diagram goes to: Dean0 (Skyscraperpage.com) Blackborderbuild created the following comparison diagram of Nigeria's tallest buildings (being built & completed) alongside Africa's tallest building (Carlton Centre - 222.5 Metres). It should no longer be of any secret, that two of Nigeria's tallest developments are currently ongoing in in the Federal Capital Territory, namely: Millennium Towers & WTC Abuja. This diagram should shed some light on just where the two imposing and ongoing developments in Abuja stack up, both in Nigeria and in Africa. There are a few particularities however to clear up, as mentioned in a previous blog post. The first area of contention, is whether the Necom House (Nitel Building), should be measured to its antenna (Which is not an architectural feature, but telecoms infrastructure/light house). CTBUH measures such non architectural features in only 1 of the 3 categories, that it uses to measure tall buildings. The second area of contention is whether the Millennium Tower, should even be classed as a building. As mentioned in the previous blog entry, with less than 50% of its structural envelope habitable; it cannot be classed as such.
Written by T.Adeniyi for Blackborderbuild. It has been quite a journey, but the Abuja Millennium tower, can finally see the light at the end. This has been the longest project tracked by Black Border Build and at the onset, such a long construction period (Over 8 years), was never anticipated. The development (Abuja Millennium Tower & Cultural Centre) is designed by Italian architect Manfredi Nicoletti, a specialist in cultural buildings. Manfredi is, also the architect of the popular Millenium Park in Abuja. The Millenium Tower lies somewhere between 160m and 170m in height, depending on which sources you call upon, however the observation deck & revolving restaurant are at an elevation of 102m. The highest accessible point, is the kitchen at 106m. The project consists of three identical cylindrical tubes of varying heights, affixed to a leaf like structural envelope. The aforementioned envelope is being fitted with LED lighting systems, for illumination, during the night. The following update, which is a week old, shows that the tower is definitely within touching distance of the finish line. Unfortunately however, the counterpart structure of the tower; the Cultural Centre (The pyramidal building), has no such luck! There is still a lot of work remaining, before the 50m edifice, looks anything like the finished product. The Millenium tower, will not be breaking any international records, as far as height goes - but within the context of Abuja, it is certainly not going to be overshadowed. It should be pointed out, that even the World Trade Center 1 tower in Abuja, will be 157 metres in height, more or less! Union Bank in the Lagos Marina is 120 metres in height and Necom House in Lagos is 160 metres to the mast (A non architectural feature). Not breaking international records, but nationally it has no equal. With that said however, the millennium tower does not have at least 50% of its structural envelope as habitable space, therefore under the guidelines suggested by CTBUH, it cannot be considered a building, as such. T.Adeniyi for Blackborderbuild. The 11 floor residential development, being developed by the Lagos State Government (LASG), is part of the larger Lagos Island Urban Regeneration program. That program, not only includes Isale Gangan, but also includes Ojo Giwa and Aroloya. The Isale Gangan scheme in particular, features an 11 floor tower block, with 54 flats. It is expected that the development, will be finalized sometime this year. LASG government essentially facilitated the merger of subdivisions, to allow for greater densities in the area. It should be noted, that although Lagos Island has always been a principal centre of trade; low density functions have coexisted with more appropriate uses, for quite some time. The British colonial government, for example, were preoccupied with urbanization in the area; from a demographic and socio-economic standpoint. Urban planning in the district was not initially stringent about densities. As a result, the organic footprint of the area, has been the norm, for decades. This development is in the "heart of Lagos" as voiced by Governor Fashola and to some extent, it is only appropriate that, this area should be in the thick of restructuring. Those, whose parcels have been absorbed into such higher density functions, will be accommodated in the developments that follow, as such the existing owners of the land, are not being shortchanged. What is provided? As outlined above, there are 54 apartments in 9 floors, there are also two parking levels, 2 elevator shafts, emergency stairwells (Numbering 2) in addition to the 2 primary stairwells. The layout is quite consistent and each level has a mixture of four 2 bedroom flats and two 3 bedroom flats. The development is being constructed by Anatolia International, who have executed a number of developments for LASG in the past. Below is the latest update, captured by LASG during a recent inspection. Cladding for the 22 Floor commercial tower (CT) (i.e. The box building) is virtually complete, with only a few panels remaining to be installed (Where cranes have been holstered). The curtain wall system, is the first unitized system being employed in Nigeria and is being installed by Eurotech Facades. Only the curtain wall system of the Central Bank HQ in Lagos, can be described, as having a similar level of quality and craftsmanship. The CT Building is west of the 25 Floor residential tower (SAT) (i.e. The wavy building) and both rest atop a car parking podium, which is at an advanced stage of construction. Behind the podium, the Capital Mall is being constructed and not far, to the North, the Abuja Station for the (AMRT Project) is being constructed. The two towers under construction, both feature a 7 metre high lobby and both have a high level of variability, which should be expected from a licensed World Trade Center structure. The residential tower will have rooms of various sizes (1 - 6 rooms), most with balconies and some with floor to ceiling glass enclosures, (where balconies are not sought after). The commercial tower, will also feature a healthy mix of tenants and no single tenant, will be able to acquire excessive square meterage; maintaining the balance of commerce. They will be able to acquire office layouts of between 100 - 1200 sqm on one level. The CT Building will be flanked by another 22 Floor CT building immediately to its west and the SAT building, will also be flanked by another 25 floor SAT building, immediately to its east. In addition, another SAT and CT will also be built behind those aforementioned buildings, to the North. The 35/37 Floor Twin Towers (Estimated at 157 Metres height), will begin construction this year. July 2014 - 22 Floor Commercial Tower (CT) Gallery |
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