What we build
From a one room cabin to a four floor block
Every kind of building we take on, what it normally costs, how long it takes and the things that go wrong when nobody is watching. Pick the one closest to what you have in mind.
Family homes
Houses people build to live in.
Bungalows
A bungalow is everything on one level. It is the most common house built in Kenya and usually the cheapest way to get a given number of bedrooms, because there is no staircase, no suspended slab and no second scaffold.
A 3 bedroom bungalow around Nanyuki normally lands between KES 5.5M and KES 10M all in.
Maisonettes
A maisonette is a house on two or three floors with its own entrance. It is what people build when the plot is small, when the view is worth reaching for, or when they simply want the bedrooms separate from the living space.
A 4 bedroom maisonette normally lands between KES 9M and KES 18M all in.
Farmhouses and country homes
Building on land is a different job from building in town. There is usually no mains water, often no power at the boundary, and the access road decides half your logistics. It is also the most rewarding kind of house to build, because the site actually gets to shape the design.
Country homes on this side of the mountain commonly run KES 8M to KES 25M, plus services.
Building for income
Buildings that have to pay for themselves.
Holiday homes and Airbnb units
Nanyuki has become one of the strongest short stay markets in Kenya. Building for guests is not the same as building for yourself, because every decision has to be judged against what it adds to the nightly rate and how it survives a stranger using it.
A well finished one or two bedroom cottage typically runs KES 3.5M to KES 9M, furnished.
Rental houses and bedsitters
Rental blocks are judged on one number, which is what a unit costs to build against what it earns each month. Everything else follows from that, including the finishes, the layout and how much you should spend on the parts tenants never see.
Bedsitters commonly cost KES 550k to KES 900k per unit, one bedrooms KES 900k to KES 1.6M.
Apartment blocks
An apartment block is a different level of project. The structure is engineered rather than assumed, the approvals are longer, and the services have to be designed as one system rather than added room by room.
Small blocks commonly run KES 55,000 to KES 85,000 per square metre of built area.
Newer ways of building
The newer methods people ask us about, with an honest view of each.
Tiny homes and cabins
A tiny home is a small, well designed house, usually under 50 square metres. Done properly it feels deliberate rather than cramped. Done badly it is a shed with a bed in it, and the whole difference is in the detailing.
A well built cabin of 30 to 50 square metres usually costs KES 1.5M to KES 4M.
Off grid homes
Off grid means the house makes its own power, finds its own water and deals with its own waste. Around Laikipia people mostly do it for practical reasons, because the nearest transformer is three kilometres away and nobody is coming to move it.
Services on a fully off grid house typically add KES 1.5M to KES 4M to the build.
Container homes
Shipping container conversions have become a common sight, especially on holiday and Airbnb plots. They go up fast and they suit remote sites where a conventional build would be a logistics problem. They also have failure modes that nobody mentions in the sales photos.
A fitted 40ft one bedroom conversion typically runs KES 1M to KES 1.5M, more once insulated properly.
Prefab and panel houses
Prefabricated panel systems, expanded polystyrene panels and light gauge steel frames all promise a faster house. Some of them deliver, particularly on remote sites and on very repetitive projects such as staff housing.
Panel systems commonly land at KES 30,000 to KES 55,000 per square metre.
Land, farms and outbuildings
The buildings that come after the house, and the ones that serve a farm.
Annexes, DSQ and staff housing
The building that goes up second is usually the one nobody planned for. A DSQ, a granny flat for parents, a home office or housing for farm staff, all built on a plot that already has a house on it.
A two room DSQ with a bathroom usually costs KES 700k to KES 1.4M.
Farm and agricultural buildings
Laikipia and Meru are farming counties, and a working farm needs buildings that earn their keep. Grain and input stores, dairy units, machinery sheds, workshops and staff housing.
Simple farm structures commonly run KES 20,000 to KES 40,000 per square metre.
Renovations and extensions
Half the calls we get are not about a new house. They are about a house that needs more room, a house that was built badly, or a house that ran out of money at roof level and has been sitting open for two years.
Renovation work is priced per item after a survey, because no two are alike.
Not sure which of these you need?
Most people arrive with a plot and a rough idea, not a building type. Tell us the plot, the budget and how you want to live, and we will tell you what is realistic. Sometimes the answer is a smaller house built properly rather than a bigger one built to the edge of the money.
Tell us what you need
Send us your drawings, a list of materials, or just a description of the job. We will come back to you with a written quote.