Villa · Soft Organic · Design study
Karen Courtyard Villa
Karen, Nairobi
- Area
- 6,889 sq ft
- 640 m²
- Ceiling height
- 4.20 m living · 2.80 m bedrooms
- Key materials
- Earth-tone limewash, Cedar, Kisii soapstone
- Completion year
- 2027
- Design study
Act I
The brief & the constraint
A family house turned inside-out around a courtyard.
A single-storey villa on an acre in Karen, built in the 1990s with every room facing outward to the garden and none facing each other.
The family of five wanted to see one another across the house, and a living room their grandparents would find comfortable, not grand.
A 4.2 m ceiling makes a room for receptions, not for a family evening.
Act II
The framing decisions
Decision 01
A cedar canopy at 2.9 m
Over the sitting area only, a slatted cedar canopy floats at 2.9 m. The full 4.2 m height stays visible around it, so the room keeps its volume while the seats get a lower, sheltering ceiling.
Section — cedar canopy at 2.9 m Decision 02
Open the courtyard side
Three bedroom corridors become glazed galleries onto the courtyard. Every room now looks across to another, and the children can be seen from the kitchen.
Plan — sightlines across the courtyard Decision 03
Soapstone at the hearth
Kisii soapstone lines the fireplace surround and the kitchen island ends. It is soft, local and warm to touch, and it takes wear gracefully.
Living area with stone and timber surfaces
Act III
The lived result
Orbit video: added at handover photography.
“The ceiling is still high. It just doesn't feel like it is looking down at us any more.”