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Wooden housing gets back its mojo
Prefabricated houses like the one pictured are common in Asia, Europe and North America and are gaining popularity locally, especially among NGOs working in northern Kenya. File
Posted Thursday, February 9 2012 at 19:36
New technology means that previously unpopular and short-term wooden housing can now be much warmer and last much longer than even the mud-walled houses common in most of rural Kenya.
Though brick, concrete houses and mud-walled houses are the norm in Nairobi and other parts of Kenya, Central Kenya is known for wooden and timber homes.
Long avoided in most areas because of their short life span, presence of termites and failure to keep out the cold weather, wooden homes are now becoming more common as new techniques mean they are warmer and last for longer.
Prefabricated houses, or prefabs, are manufactured in factories and easily transported to rural areas to be assembled on-site.
They are either made of steel structural insulated panels, cement board structural insulated panels, concrete panels and wooden panels. Wooden panels can be treated chemically to avoid the risk posed by termites.
In many countries in Europe, Asia and America, prefabs have become common.
The trend has now started to catch on in Kenya, particularly among NGOs operating in North Eastern Kenya.
The ability to mount and dismount these houses quickly makes them ideal for operations that shift from one region to another.
The price of cement, bricks, iron sheets, sand and general construction has risen at an astonishing rate. Coupled with the rising interest rates on loans, many people have shied away from building concrete houses.
Wooden houses and prefabs provide a cheaper and quicker option for those priced out of more standard homes, offering an opportunity to investors and financiers.
Francis Gichuhi, an architect and founder of 4architect Consultancy, notes that a prefab takes about 30 per cent of the time required to construct a concrete house.
“It is faster to erect a prefabricated house in projects where time is of essence, for instance in an emergency when housing structures are needed as soon as possible,” Gichuhi noted.
Flexible design
Prefabs have gained popularity over the years because of their flexible design. Makers offer a range of house designs and a number of options on how the house can be customised, or “souped”, to use the local lingo.
They are also cheaper to insure as a result and much safer in earthquake-prone areas.
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