Competing Architectural icons

Bishops rd off valley rd on one side & ngong rd ….. on the opposite side boasts of a very tranquil and serene environment. For many years the area was famous for good security courtesy of GSU officers who guarded the former Israeli embassy..and manned the road. (along the Israel embassy length).

Walking along the road recently, the peace and serenity in the area hit me and I appreciated the silence & tranquility despite on going construction of the over 40-floors 8 & 8/ 8 in 8  mixed-use sky scrapper just near the other ultramodern Prism Towers and another architectural icon.

And though I regularly walk along Bishops rd, (I am neither ashamed of declaring my love for walking nor afraid of being  seen walking by acquaintances or colleagues or neighbors or family walking when I should be traveling in PSVs and other vehicles), my recent walk on the road was profound.

I had some assignments to perform inside the 4th Avenue Towers off 4th Ngong Ave & Bishops & Ngong rds.

I had never visited the huge and massive 22 floors building which appears compact in a way and whose structure appears to occupy almost the entire space in its designated compound.

Another architectural marvel, the building has about 350 car parking silos in about 8 storeys and one can hardly see any parking space in its small front space.

In reflections, I realized that its developer(s) must have decided to maximize on the building space leaving just a small free space on its front that faces 4th Ngong Avenue off both Ngong rd and Bishops rd.

This building must have been  constructed when living and occupancy spaces were not constrained.

For instance, the safety officers at the gate enjoy the comfort of a very spacious room with high ceiling and which automatically gives a feeling of freedom.

Into the building marked by an even higher ceiling space at the entrance foyer and towards a non existent reception desk and on to the lift foyer the feeling of freedom persists aided by wide and spacious areas & spaces.

Even before entering the massive & compact building, i had decided that i would make an adventurous bid.

My contact at 4th Avenue Towers had indicated that their office was on the 14 th floor and i had decided that I would walk and climb up to that office.

So once the security had cleared me, I checked my StepUp steps figures and noted the steps i had already covered. I confide walked past the lift foyer but not before confirming the staircase position

“I believe that that is the staircase,” I said to a man waiting for the liftd; “yes, but I heard you mention 14th floor,” he responded.

“Yes, I want to walk,” I assured him and proceeded to take the stairs. And up the stairs I walked meeting very few people. And as I walked and I also realized how wide and spacious and silent the stairs were.

Soon, I started greatly enjoying my own company and the exertion on my lungs. Indeed I was enjoying the climbing and was keen to reach my destination and return to the ground floor after which I would check how many steps I had made.

As I walked up, I realized that I would have to open one of the emergency staircase doors (most of them were shut) when my sixth sense would show that I had attained the 14 floors or thereabouts.

I opened one of the emergency doors and realized that I had reached the 11 floor. I closed the same and started counting to be sure I would not go past the 14 th floor.

As I enjoyed my up the stairs walk, I also wondered whether someone was monitoring my adventure on the building cctv but then I assured myself that I was safe since my only ‘crime’ was ‘just taking an adventure walk up the stairs’.

As I confidently opened the staircase door to the 14 th flr, I realized that I did not know my contact’s business name. I was merely looking for a contact in a law firm.

A warm & friendly law firm staff, a lady welcomed me, gave me a seat and advised me to call my contact and that is when I realized that I had to walk to 16th to reach my destination.

After eventually meeting my contact, i walked down to the ground floor and signed out.

Out of the imposingly compact building and gate, i got my water bottle and took a long sip to recharge. I also cautiously removed my phone and with data on checked my StepUp account. After fast calculations, I realized that i had walked a total of  1176 steps

translating to 588 metres (0.588km) didtan45..

For me that proved a refreshing walking adventure