Karen GardenVilla.
( Case study — Residential, Nairobi, 2026 )
The Brief
A home that breathes.
A family of five wanted a house that could hold contradiction: social yet private, shaded yet flooded with light, contemporary yet warm. They asked for "rooms our children will remember, and corners we can disappear into."
The Challenge
The existing plan was a sequence of closed, dark rooms with no relationship to the garden — the site's best asset. Load-bearing walls limited structural change, and the brief demanded generous storage without visible clutter.
The Concept
We reorganised the house around the garden as an outdoor room. Deep openings, borrowed light and a consistent material spine of mvule timber and soapstone connect every space. Storage became architecture — walls that open, benches that hide, stairs that display.
The Materials
Mvule timber, Kisii soapstone, sisal weave, brushed brass and linen — a palette chosen to age gently and catch the evening light.
- Mvule Timber
- Kisii Soapstone
- Sisal Weave
- Brushed Brass
- Natural Linen
The Process
Sixteen weeks from concept to technical package, then fourteen weeks of fit-out managed by our delivery team — joinery fabricated off-site in our Machakos workshop for precision, lighting tuned room by room on handover week.
The garden, reclaimed
Before — AfterThe Result
A house that feels larger than its footprint — calm in the morning, alive in the evening. The family moved in with one suitcase of furniture; everything else was drawn for the space.
