Strathmore Begins Construction on Phase III of Campus
November 2nd, 2008
Construction work has began on Phase III of the University. The project will include construction of a Management Science Building with classrooms, lecture theatres and offices, a Student Centre; and new and better Sports Grounds. Its projected cost will be KSh 550 million (USD 8 million).
The Management Science Building is scheduled to be completed in June 2009 while the other buildings are scheduled to be completed in June 2010. Phase III will more than double the University’s floor area to
Preparing Phase III groundwork. A new Strathmore Business School building is in the background.
41,190 square meters. Classroom seating capacity will increase from 2350 to 4350 seats. The cafeteria’s sitting capacity will triple. The Student Centre is designed for 8000 students, double Strathmore’s student population at present. It will be a modern complex that will provide students with many facilities found in modern business centers. including a medical center, a business incubation unit, and a clubhouse.
Environmental friendly
The buildings will be the one of the first in Africa designed in adherence with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, a suite of standards for environmentally sustainable construction. The business school building will be the first such designed business school in the world.
LEED rating system addresses six major areas: sustainable sites, hydro efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, innovation and design process. The project will use innovations in its structures, natural lighting, water management, infrastructure optimization, energy efficiency, heat recovery, IT Flexibility, indoor air quality, ease of access, heat island effect reduction, and use of renewable materials.
The buildings have a flexible design. They will have non-permanent glass partitions in offices and meeting rooms. The atrium in the business school building will also be used as an auditorium. Classrooms in the Management Science have been designed with door at the front and back and differentiated light switches so that they can be sub-divided when need arises.
The buildings will maximize on natural lighting by using glass walls, a glass atrium roof with automatic Roman Blinds, and glass partitions. For safety purposes sun-blasted glass will be used.
Renewable, recycled or recyclable materials will be used in the building. These include bamboo doors, U-Boot slab forms, Iglu floor forms and on-site rubble as hardcore filling supplement.
Strathmore’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor John Odhiambo, said that Strathmore was entering into its next phase of development, making itself ready to attract more students and to start new degrees in the years ahead once the new facilities are completed.