Nation Centre

Developed by PDM in 1992, The Nation Centre, set on Kimathi Street in the heart of Nairobi’s CBD, combines styles from around the world in a building that has become an icon and city landmark from its opening days. Standing 73 metres tall, the centre is a capitol of twin towers of seven floors each, rising from a main podium of ten floors, and fronted by a colonnade set above three basements for parking.

The concave-convex interplay between the podium and the towers is typical of baroque buildings; and further emphasized by black and white stripes that were used to represent printed newspapers – with the building built to house the Nation newspaper, today Kenya’s largest circulation newspaper. Within the white stripes on the on the podium floors, horizontal, concrete louvres mask openable windows, while in the towers, the windows are behind the black stripes. However, the most outstanding feature of the building is its resemblance to a Maasai face, with the eyes, nose and mouth all in place and the “enkishili” ( a traditional headband worn by the Maasai) ascending towards the sky – placed in between the twin towers and dropping all the way to just above the entrance canopy. The “enkishili” is a visible feature throughout Nairobi’s skyline.