Zima Homes is an affordable housing project set to address two key issues of the Kenyan market: limited quality affordable housing and the need for more sustainable building. BuildX is the designer, contractor and developer of the project.

The first Zima Homes project is a pilot comprising 137 units (studio, one-bed and two-bed apartments) to be built on a half-acre plot in Wangige, Nairobi, Kenya.

The project aims at being innovative in the use of sustainable design principles as well as alternative building materials and technologies. Our design is based on modular layouts to allow easy-to-build and replicable design, intelligent design principles to optimise material use and minimise waste, low-carbon design with defined targets for environmental performance, as well as the application of inclusive and community design approaches.

The Zima pilot is EDGE Certified with energy savings in the range of 23% to 33%, water savings of 29% and embodied energy savings in the range of 49% to 51%. Going forward, our aim is to deliver net zero carbon Zima Homes.

Zima targets a population of young Kenyans within the bottom 40% of Nairobi’s population who can afford a monthly housing budget of up to Ksh 27,500 (~USD 256). Based on full occupancy, we estimate around 350 people will live in the 137-unit development in Wangige. 

BuildX has partnered with Reall, an innovator and investor in climate-smart affordable housing across Africa and Asia, to build 10,000 affordable Zima Homes in Nairobi and its environs by 2030. Our long-term objective is to enable home ownership for the Zima target group. 

To find out more visit Zima Homes.