Designing a home is the first and most important step towards the realization of your homeownership dream. However, the process of designing a house is quite complicated and often requires the input of a qualified architect.
Whether you’re planning a contemporary house design, a luxury 5 bedroom house, or a low budget modern 3 bedroom house, the design process follows similar principles but requires different considerations at each budget level.
Here is a comprehensive step-by-step guide to designing a home in Kenya.
A project brief is a document created by a prospective homeowner before engaging an architect. It outlines all the requirements for the project and serves as the foundation for everything that follows.
A brief helps you to obtain accurate fee proposals from your architect. Without this document, you’ll likely get vague quotes that change as the project progresses – something we’ve seen happen too many times.
The document includes information relating to the number of rooms as well as their sizes. It is advisable to get the measurements of a house that meets your standards. If you’re considering a 4 bedroom house design, visit similar completed homes to understand realistic room dimensions. A “4 bedroom house” can mean anything from 150 square meters to 400+ square meters depending on layout.
A project brief should also include your preferred building outflow – which is the outline/structure of the internal rooms of the house. Do you want open-plan living with kitchen, dining, and lounge connected? Or do you prefer compartmentalized rooms with clear separation? This affects everything from structural requirements to HVAC planning.
Your brief should also include the architectural style of the proposed house. Popular styles in Kenya include:
The document should also outline your home’s heating strategy (though in most of Kenya, cooling is more important than heating). State whether you want a low-energy home that focuses on renewable energy. Solar panels are becoming standard in Kenyan homes, especially with unreliable grid power.
Additional elements to include in your project brief:
Editor’s Note: It is advisable to provide your design team with as much information as you can, even if it requires you to draw some sketches. We’ve created a comprehensive house design form that covers all the questions an architect needs answered. Fill this out before your first meeting and you’ll save weeks of back-and-forth communication.
Once your project brief is ready, it is time to jump into the second step of designing a home – which involves picking a design team.
It is important to hire a team that fully understands your vision. We’ve rescued too many projects where the architect delivered beautiful drawings that had nothing to do with what the client actually wanted.
Here are a few tips on choosing the right design team:
Interview at least three architects. Ask to see their portfolios. Don’t just look at pretty renderings – ask to visit completed projects. We encourage all our prospective clients to visit our completed projects and talk to previous clients.
Send your project brief and sketches of the structure to every architect you require a quotation from. This ensures you’re comparing apples to apples. If one architect quotes for a 200 sqm house and another for 250 sqm, you can’t properly compare prices.
Obtain written quotations and make sure they are fixed charges – and not percentage of cost quotes as these have no incentive for architects to lower costs. A percentage-based fee means the more expensive your house, the more your architect earns. This creates wrong incentives.
Don’t just pick the lowest quote. Remember you want excellent services and the design team needs to make some profit. An architect charging KES 150,000 for a 4-bedroom design will cut corners somewhere. Proper architectural services for a mid-size house typically cost KES 300,000-600,000 including structural engineering and all approvals.
Check their understanding of local regulations. Each county in Kenya has different building codes. Nairobi County requirements differ from Kiambu, Machakos, or Kakamega. Your architect should know the specific rules for your county.
Verify they have necessary certifications. Your architect should be registered with the Board of Registration of Architects and Quantity Surveyors (BORAQS). Engineers should be registered with the Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK).
At KNH Contractors, we handle the entire process from design to construction, which eliminates coordination headaches between different teams. Our architects, engineers, and builders work together from day one, which prevents the common problem of “this looks great on paper but can’t actually be built.”
Upon the appointment of a design team, the process of designing a home can start immediately. This task is divided into four main stages: initial design, planning stage, building regulations, and the production of construction drawings.
During the initial design stage, you will sit with your architect to review the project brief and to come up with a project timeline stating how the house will be built from start to finish.
You will then conduct a site review and soil examination, with the help of your engineers, to determine if the ground is fit for natural drainage solutions. Kenya has diverse soil types – black cotton soil in parts of Nairobi requires different foundation approaches than murram or sandy soils found in Coast region.
Critical site assessments include:
Based on the findings of the study, the architect will then produce initial sketch drawings that should be presented to you for review and consideration.
Your architect should give you two variations of the design so that you can pick bits from each to allow the creation of a third and final drawing. If they present only one option and insist “this is the best design,” consider it a red flag. Good architects explore options.
Common design decisions at this stage:
Room placement: Where should bedrooms go? Upstairs or single-story? Should the master bedroom have ground floor access for aging-in-place? Should guest bedrooms be separate from family bedrooms?
Kitchen style: Open-plan or closed? Kitchen island or not? If you’re interested in modern kitchens, look at our house design models which showcase different kitchen configurations.
Bathroom count: How many bathrooms do you actually need? For a 4-bedroom house, we typically recommend 3-4 bathrooms minimum (one ensuite for master, one for other bedrooms to share, one guest toilet downstairs, and sometimes one for the DSQ).
Storage solutions: Built-in wardrobes? Separate pantry? Where does laundry equipment go? We’ve learned that Kenyan homes need more storage than Western designs typically include.
Outdoor spaces: Covered porch? Balconies? Rooftop terrace? For flat roof house designs, rooftop space can become gyms, gardens, or entertainment areas.
Once the design is agreed upon, you can now shift your focus to conducting an energy assessment to identify the best heating solutions for your home. In Kenya, this is more about cooling and ventilation than heating. Natural cross-ventilation, proper roof insulation, and strategic window placement can eliminate the need for air conditioning in most areas.
During this stage, which should typically last between three and eight weeks, you should engage a quantity surveyor to undertake a budget cost exercise. This prevents the common problem of designing a KES 12 million house when your budget is KES 8 million. The QS provides a reality check before you’ve invested too much in the design.
Once you are pleased with the design – which should meet all your requirements – you can now jump into the next stage of designing a house.
Here, you will work with your architect and an engineer to iron out any issues with the drawings or project site.
You will also look at any planning policies that could affect your project. In Kenya, these include:
During this stage, all drawings and sketches will be updated, and 3D-rendered models and images presented to you. As such it helps to work with an architect who presents his blueprints in a 3D drawing package. 2D floor plans are hard to visualize – 3D renderings let you “walk through” your future home and spot problems before construction starts.
Thereafter, you will work on the other documents needed to get a building permit. These are structural design calculations and detailing.
Documents required for building approval in most Kenyan counties:
The approval process timeline varies by county:
These are realistic timelines. Some counties claim “30 days” but actual approval takes longer due to backlogs and back-and-forth on corrections.
Upon obtaining the planning approval, you will be free to proceed to the next stage of development.
Important: Some people start construction before approval, assuming they’ll get it eventually. This is risky. Counties can order demolition of unapproved structures, and you won’t get insurance or proper utilities connection without approved plans.
During this stage, you will need to work with your designer, engineer, and county planner to conduct a building regulation review of the drawings to confirm they comply with all the regulations.
The engineer and the energy assessor will complete their initial designs and integrate them with the architect’s blueprints. The outcome of the integration should be checked by the client to ensure the design still matches the project brief.
Key building regulations in Kenya include:
Foundation requirements: Minimum depth of 600mm below ground level, but deeper in areas with black cotton soil or poor bearing capacity.
Wall specifications: Minimum 200mm thick for load-bearing walls, proper damp-proof course (DPC) installation, adequate reinforcement.
Roofing standards: For flat roofs, proper waterproofing membrane is mandatory. For pitched roofs, adequate pitch for drainage (usually minimum 15 degrees).
Window and door sizes: Minimum window area for natural light and ventilation (typically 10% of floor area). Emergency egress requirements for bedrooms.
Ceiling heights: Minimum 2.4 meters for habitable rooms.
Staircase regulations: Maximum riser height, minimum tread depth, handrail requirements, headroom clearance.
Septic tank placement: Minimum distances from house, water sources, and property boundaries. Some counties now require biodigesters instead of traditional septic systems.
Fire safety: Fire-rated materials in certain applications, smoke detectors, fire extinguisher placement for larger homes.
Accessibility: While not always enforced, consider universal design principles that allow aging-in-place or accommodate family members with mobility challenges.
The review should take about 1 to 2 weeks depending on the county government. Some counties are faster, others slower. Budget extra time for this – it’s always longer than expected.
It is advisable to deal with any planning issues as early as possible to avoid any future penalties that could delay construction works. We’ve seen projects stopped mid-construction because someone noticed the approved plans don’t match what’s being built. The penalties are expensive and the delays frustrating.
This is often skipped by self-builders seeking to cut costs. However, the production of drawings enables you to provide the contractor with all the required information.
This will help them build exactly as you want by removing any grey areas.
What construction drawings include that approval drawings don’t:
Detailed foundation plans: Exact rebar schedules, concrete mixes, foundation depth variations for different soil zones.
Wall sections: Showing exactly how walls connect to foundations, how windows and doors are installed, where reinforcement goes.
Roof construction details: Beam sizes, spacing, connection methods, waterproofing layers.
Finishing schedules: Exact specifications for tiles, paint colors, door hardware, light fixtures, sanitary ware.
Plumbing details: Pipe sizes, slope requirements, cleanout locations, valve positions.
Electrical details: Exact outlet locations, switch positions, lighting circuits, main panel specifications.
Joinery details: Built-in wardrobes, kitchen cabinets, countertop materials and dimensions.
Without these details, contractors make their own decisions – which might not match what you wanted. We’ve seen clients frustrated because “the kitchen island isn’t where I wanted it” or “these tiles aren’t what I imagined.” Construction drawings prevent these problems.
The cost of producing construction drawings is typically 20-30% of the overall architectural fee. For a KES 100,000 architectural package, construction drawings might add KES 100,000-150,000. This seems expensive until you realize it saves you from KES 500,000+ in construction mistakes and rework.
Kenya faces water scarcity in many regions. Your house design should address this:
Borehole installation: If municipal water is unreliable (which it is in most areas), plan for a borehole. We provide borehole drilling services across Kenya. The cost of drilling a borehole in Kenya varies by depth and location but typically ranges from KES 150,000-600,000.
Rainwater harvesting: Your roof can collect thousands of liters during rainy seasons. A 200 sqm roof can harvest about 80,000 liters per year in areas receiving 400mm annual rainfall.
Water storage: Plan for minimum 5,000-10,000 liter tanks for a family home. Larger homes or areas with severe water shortages need 20,000+ liters.
Greywater recycling: Bathroom and kitchen water can irrigate gardens after basic filtration.
If you’re unsure about water availability on your plot, read our guide on what to look for when drilling a borehole.
Roofing: Iron sheets are common but absorb heat. Consider:
Walls: Standard concrete blocks work, but consider:
Flooring: Ceramic tiles are popular for good reason – they’re cool, durable, and easy to clean. Hardwood looks great but suffers in humid areas like Coast region.
Windows: Invest in quality aluminum frames. Cheap steel windows rust within 3-5 years in Kenya’s climate.
Security affects design in Kenya. Consider:
These should be planned during design, not added later.
Don’t neglect outdoor design:
Many Kenyans underestimate building costs. Here’s realistic budgeting for 2025:
Basic 3-bedroom house: KES 3-5 million Mid-range 4-bedroom house: KES 6-10 million
Luxury 5-bedroom house: KES 10-18 million
These include:
They DON’T include:
Typical timeline from design to move-in:
| Phase | Duration |
|---|---|
| Design and approvals | 1-2 months |
| Foundation and structure | 1 months |
| Roofing and walling | 1 months |
| Plumbing, electrical, finishes | <1 months |
| Final touches and cleanup | 1 month |
| Total realistic timeline | 6 months |
Anyone promising 3 months is either building something much simpler or setting unrealistic expectations.
At KNH Contractors, we’ve streamlined the design and construction process:
Design phase: We start with your house design form to understand your needs, then create customized designs with 3D renderings.
Approval phase: We handle all county approvals, structural engineering, and regulatory compliance.
Construction phase: Our team builds exactly to the approved plans with regular client updates.
Additional services: We provide borehole drilling, landscaping, and ongoing maintenance support.
We’ve designed and built homes across Kenya – from low budget modern 3 bedroom houses to luxury estates. Check our portfolio or contact us to discuss your project.
For more information about our services, visit our services page or browse our blog for more house design tips and construction advice.
Bottom line: Designing a home in Kenya requires understanding local conditions, regulations, and realistic budgets. Skip steps to save money upfront and you’ll pay multiples later in corrections and rework. Invest in proper design and you’ll build exactly what you want, within budget, and on a realistic timeline.
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