Tuesday, June 17, 2008

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How are you today? That blog spot looks great! Saw the latest update and it all feels like we are already off the ground on this exciting project. The star-looking centre of the main building will be the meeting/conference room on the first floor. It will be a hexagon and will still leave enough room on the balcony for a rest and taking of the view as one sips a drink in the African warm weather in summer.

The water harvesting component of the project will not be possible on this IV-Hopewell because we are using ‘makuti’…Kiswahili word for weaved palms for roofing. The solar panels can be fitted both to provide energy for heating (hot showers) as well as save on electricity bills.

Architects here normally charge a percentage of the total project costs and our man had quoted 4% but I know we can bargain till 3.5%. With 50% of the payment, he will do all the working drawings (with full details of dimensions, etc) and bring out a Bill of Quantities (which is a tedious and expensive undertaking, calculating up to the last nail that will be hammered in and determining its actual cost). This cost also includes the city’s permit/license. He can complete all the drawings in two weeks at the outside. We already paid him for the project site visit.

We will give a more detailed update tomorrow.

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