Ramzi Towers
empowering, enabling the local contractor to deliver the highest inhabited sprayed-concrete structure in the world without needing to outsource the technical issues. The project team is also undertaking the establishment of a shadow program, where UK skills and knowledge are to be shared and transferred to local young Nigerian consultants who in turn are assisting in meeting local statutory approvals. Each apartment is designed around a huge central living area giving panoramic views. The living, dining, bar, library and loggia areas, are all interconnected around a central pre- fabricated kitchen hub. Master suites are impressive and additional bedrooms generous and all en-suite. Dedicated lifts serve only two apartments per floor on lower levels, while upper floors access solitary four bed apartments containing additional reception, or ‘morning’ rooms
orientated to benefit from the morning sun. The top two floors contain exceptional duplex penthouses with stunning roof terraces. When it came to tackling the issue of the African climate shading was the aim of the game. The tower has distinctive sprayed concrete curved shells and deep window reveals on the East and West facades and wrapping around the roof surfaces. These provide shading from the heat of the direct sun, which passes directly overhead in Lagos, meaning that the typical European issues of overheating on the south and lack of sunlight on the north are less manifest. For the north/south façades, SPARK designed continuous bands of horizontal louvres, providing solar shading from the overhead sun.
Due to the corrosive maritime environment and the red sand which is deposited on the building in certain winds, it needs to be
impervious, so an impregnated finish to the concrete protects it from the humidity, rain and staining. Max Titchmarsh who leads SPARK’s London design studio, added: "SPARK are excited to be part of a new generation of International consultants helping Nigeria re-discover its appetite for ambitious, innovative and sustainable development that can reflect the huge potential of this major economy. We think Nigeria is beginning a new chapter of global prominence and we believe that there is a new breed of domestic development and contracting expertise that will see the current surge of development activity translate into a lasting legacy." Contemporary living in Lagos is just about to turn panoramic.
www.sparkarchitects.com July 2014 Architects Choice 29
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