whitebeard:
I don't trust south Africa cause of their xenophobic behavior.. I like your presentation but no to south Africa...

Only Martina cares you know....
Creativity speaks in their work not xenophobia

I love this thread

I will like you to post pictures of what you are trying to explain or send me an email to skimanski4life@yahoo.com with pictures of what you just explained

forgiveness:


Bros, the cantilevers in our house are many and it looks like the ones below(in your post). I can see this house made use of the space below with nice designs but ours don't have any design. It's just space.

However, what do you think can be done to a house that has a licking rooftop made of cements.

Will the licking roof cause damages? What kind of damages?

Can one build on the deck with this kind of roofing style (below picture) or with whatever you think is best?

We may require your service to design, for reconstruction and interior design. Thanks

skimanski:
I will like you to send me an email to skimanski4life@yahoo.com with pictures of what you just explained

I will gladly do that when I go back home. Probably, at the end of next month. Thanks for replying.

It is okay

Myself2:


It's not about the pictures the OP posted, the truth is that anybody that has taken note about the finishing of houses in South Africa for instance,is miles ahead of the ones in Nigeria's high brow areas.

I think you are missing the whole point.

first off, those pictures are actually rendered images, so That's factual.

second, our building's interior and exterior will continue to look the way they do for various reasons.

1. clients are not ready to pay their consultants for mental stress, they prefer to pay bricklayers and contractors.

2. architectural study in Nigerian universities is definitely deficient. very deficient.

3. artisans and so-called skilled laborers are poorly trained. hence you have an experienced bricklayer who can't build a straight wall to save his life.

4. lack of electricity and our climate also limits our use of some materials like glass.

all in all, yes our buildings are poorly designed and built, and no, That's not going to change until we decide to do away with mediocrity.

(sorry for the lecture).

iamord:
Only Martina cares you know.... Creativity speaks in their work not xenophobia

that is what I mean

obongitiad:


U talking abt full glass doors. What abt the children, wont they skata the door for you?

We have two full glass doors at home... For Up and down living rooms.

The bottom slides have gone bad.

The repair guys said they'll have to dig into d side wall and tiles in order to get out and replace d aluminum frames in the wall and floor.

Person will have to buy replacement aluminum racks for the glasses, replacement tiles, cement and paint.

I told them I will consider... Pulled d giant glasses out of the rails to avoid breakage and cover d d door with curtains.

We often host large number of people in the house hence need for wide lounge doors. I think foldable/swing glass doors is better than replacing the slides.

So all these flashy designs the o.p dey propose... They are expensive to acquire, maintain or replace.

Large space indoors without enough supportive under walls or pillars will make the upper floors decking begin to crack over the years. I've learnt lots of tough lessons from all these.

Better have a house will small stuffed rooms than have spacious house where you will have to be calling bricklayer to put pillars here and there when u begin to see cracks after 12 years.

I think your problem is a "taste" issue. You are free to create new and innovative designs that you feel Nigerians haven't seen yet. But your taste level is concerning.

Meaning you can design all you like... But if the end product is not appealing to the masses you will never be called to reproduce that design in most peoples homes . unless their taste matches yours.

I'm not doubting your skill level. But your taste is very questionable. As you can see, nobody here is complementing you on your designs.

It's time for you to change it up a bit and come up with new designs. You can do it. Take constructive criticism and go back to the drawing board. With time and hard work I'm sure you will be able to create something that will be appealing to the masses.

Morewealth121:


when it comes to interior works am guru.
I create my own designs and patterns. am not limited to what I learn. I go extra mile and do things in unique way. studying paint and colour under visual art... is like following someone idea.
can't I create some thing differs? you said my works are too horrendous.
what about this?

When we don't have mosquitoes and free ranging armed robbers...

AsAPRocky:
This house is in south africa, when can we start seeing houses like these in Nigeria: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3092888/Every-room-view-360-degree-panorama-mountain-sea-deluxe-South-African-mansion-built-landscape.html

oweniwe:


We have two full glass doors at home... For Up and down living rooms.

The bottom slides have gone bad.

The repair guys said they'll have to dig into d side wall and tiles in order to get out and replace d aluminum frames in the wall and floor.

Person will have to buy replacement aluminum racks for the glasses, replacement tiles, cement and paint.

I told them I will consider... Pulled d giant glasses out of the rails to avoid breakage and cover d d door with curtains.

We often host large number of people in the house hence need for wide lounge doors. I think foldable/swing glass doors is better than replacing the slides.

So all these flashy designs the o.p dey propose... They are expensive to acquire, maintain or replace.

Large space indoors without enough supportive under walls or pillars will make the upper floors decking begin to crack over the years. I've learnt lots of tough lessons from all these.

Better have a house will small stuffed rooms than have spacious house where you will have to be calling bricklayer to put pillars here and there when u begin to see cracks after 12 years.

Hmm! Nice one

Yes, it is undeniable, our local architecture for the most part is drab and dated, which shdnt come as a surprise given the tiny percentage of well trained, skilled professionals generally involved in the industry. But, the primary limiting factor asides from manpower deficit, poor city or town planning, and security considerations..... is COST ( of the right skills , of the right choice and quality of materials). You can always cut down cost with improvisation and some creativity but nothing good comes cheap. Unless you're just interesteind in appearances .

there are very contemporary building designs with very contemporary interior decor scattered across the country, but if you talk about 'Nigerian Architecture" which would imply architectural designs that should be common place, practical and easily actualised. many of the designs shown above are not exactly very practical here.

Unless, you dont care about having your business in the open, or you are part of a few who live in very secure, well planned and spaced estate, where your neighbour's window isn't 2inches from yours, or chief's gen set isnt fogging up the atmosphere etc; the liberal application of glass and open areas ( which is very beautiful) would be unappealing.

What i find conspicuously missing in the design of many million dollar mansions in naija is a fire sprinkler and drencher system. As critical and important as they are, only very very very few residential builds have them.
Health, safety and environment are down played in our doings as usual.

Even in the purchase of basic/common place building materials, alot of people talk about quality, quality quality... but run away from the cost realities of that quality. This is why in the next 100 years, markets (building and otherwise) will continue to be flooded with trash, and it will continue to be more profitable to sell cheap and substandard products in Nigeria.

That's part of the problem i just highlighted, this comes to bear on quality of materials and skills. Glass doors and partitions are used in houses in other parts of the world, where there are kids and heavy use aswell,
but do they have the kind of replacement and maintenance headache we do?
Do they utilize the same kind of accessories and materials we mostly do?
Your guess is as good as mine.

oweniwe:


We have two full glass doors at home... For Up and down living rooms.

The bottom slides have gone bad.

The repair guys said they'll have to dig into d side wall and tiles in order to get out and replace d aluminum frames in the wall and floor.

Person will have to buy replacement aluminum racks for the glasses, replacement tiles, cement and paint.

Nice topic.

I am a trained interior architect. Only few people understands what it means to stay in a cozy space . See what I do at www.ispaceprojectsng.com

Are these close? One of my works.

Ioannes:


I think you are missing the whole point.

first off, those pictures are actually rendered images, so That's factual.

second, our building's interior and exterior will continue to look the way they do for various reasons.

1. clients are not ready to pay their consultants for mental stress, they prefer to pay bricklayers and contractors.

2. architectural study in Nigerian universities is definitely deficient. very deficient.

3. artisans and so-called skilled laborers are poorly trained. hence you have an experienced bricklayer who can't build a straight wall to save his life.

4. lack of electricity and our climate also limits our use of some materials like glass.

all in all, yes our buildings are poorly designed and built, and no, That's not going to change until we decide to do away with mediocrity.

(sorry for the lecture).

I think you have gotten the basics right on the issues nigeria faces in their architecture. Where do i even start?!!! As someone with an architecture background who has had the opportunity to work abroad in the same sector. The differences are vast!!!

First of all we have no measure of standards. Anyone can put up anything, anywhere at anytime.

We lack good workmen who know their trades, finishing makes a job. I have seen a plumber that will make italian marble look like useless clay tiles made by a 2 year old after they have finished with it.

we are lagging behind hugely in the developements being made in building technology. The use of insulated wall and roof build up, double glazing, curtain walls, alternative cooling and power sources just to mention a few.

We wonder why our houses are hot and the air conditioners are struggling? Why wont they, when all our roofs are alumninium or tin? Which are one the most heat conductive materials you can find on the planet, also our windows dont close properly to seal the building. All you need is 5 seconds of switching off rhe A/C for you to start sweating like donkeys.

We are happy to settle for mediocrity. We want to copy things we see in other countries but go and buy cheap knock offs from china then employ dodgy inexperienced workmen to install.


We wonder why facade panels fade, why wont they fade, when we import low quality materials with low quality paint systems that deterioriate in the hot naija sun.

No health and safety rules... only in nigeria are people still using asbestos or handling it anyhow. When it is banned in most western countries due to very serious health issues it causes . In the UK you need a specialist in full body suit and breathing mask to even handle it.

Abi na fire safety?

Or the scanty and shoddy scaffolding you see outside buidling?

I no talk again oh! The issues on my list is too many to mention.

AlphaHandMaiden:



I think you have gotten the basics right on the issues nigeria faces in their architecture. Where do i even start?!!! As someone with an architecture background who has had the opportunity to work abroad in the same sector. The differences are vast!!!

First of all we have no measure of standards. Anyone can put up anything, anywhere at anytime.

We lack good workmen who know their trades, finishing makes a job. I have seen a plumber that will make italian marble look like useless clay tiles made by a 2 year old after they have finished with it.

we are lagging behind hugely in the developements being made in building technology. The use of insulated wall and roof build up, double glazing, curtain walls, alternative cooling and power sources just to mention a few.

We wonder why our houses are hot and the air conditioners are struggling? Why wont they, when all our roofs are alumninium or tin? Which are one the most heat conductive materials you can find on the planet, also our windows dont close properly to seal the building. All you need is 5 seconds of switching off rhe A/C for you to start sweating like donkeys.

We are happy to settle for mediocrity. We want to copy things we see in other countries but go and buy cheap knock offs from china then employ dodgy inexperienced workmen to install.


We wonder why facade panels fade, why wont they fade, when we import low quality materials with low quality paint systems that deterioriate in the hot naija sun.

No health and safety rules... only in nigeria are people still using asbestos or handling it anyhow. When it is banned in most western countries due to very serious health issues it causes . In the UK you need a specialist in full body suit and breathing mask to even handle it.

Abi na fire safety?

Or the scanty and shoddy scaffolding you see outside buidling?

I no talk again oh! The issues on my list is too many to mention.

exactly my thoughts. I couldn't have written it better.

if we start talking about the problems architecture as a profession faces in this country, we may not get to the end of it.

I'm in the system and it's not looking good for the profession at all.

everybody seems to be doing the architects job (the civil engineer, the quantity surveyor, the urban planner, even bricklayers) except the architect.

the architect is busy chasing the contractor's job.

it's common to hear from architects that there's no money in consultancy, construction is where the money is. and then we start dragging work with the contractor. why won't our designs suffer?

I wonder how many architects these days can detail fully a simple 3bedroom apartment.

they will tell you "why bother, the client won't pay you for it".

you can't argue with that though.

AlphaHandMaiden:
we are lagging behind hugely in the developements being made in building technology. The use of insulated wall and roof build up, double glazing, curtain walls, alternative cooling and power sources just to mention a few.

You made a lot of valid points, but advocating the use of double-glazing in this sweltering Nigerian heat is rather strange.

deolaarc:
I am a trained interior architect. Only few people understands what it means to stay in a cozy space . See what I do at www.ispaceprojectsng.com

The site is good. but some of the pics you put in the architecture designs spoilt the flow. Be a professional in the interior design...check out io furniture and similar companies.

Tequilah:


You made a lot of valid points, but advocating the use of double-glazing in this sweltering Nigerian heat is rather strange.

Double glazing can be used in both hot and cold climates. Especially with the use of high performance solar control coatings which go on the glass to reduce solar heat transfers from ouside to inside.

These coatings can be quite fragile and need to be protected inside the cavity of a double glazed unit. This can reduce the amount of solar energy from 96% in a single pane uncoated glass to even 20% or even less in a double glazed unit with the right coating and inert gas combination.

Less solar heat entering the building therefore less energy and efforts in trying to cool or air-condition the space. (do bear in mind that this will have to be done in conjunction with wall and roof insulation as well as adequately making thr building air and watertight to reap the full benefits.).

It also works better for sound insulation as well also depending on the build-up.

It is also widely used in the middle east and australia and is their climate not comparable or even hotter than ours?

AlphaHandMaiden:


Double glazing can be used in both hot and cold climates. Especially with the use of high performance solar control coatings which go on the glass to reduce solar heat transfers from ouside to inside.

These coatings can be quite fragile and need to be protected inside the cavity of a double glazed unit. This can reduce the amount of solar energy from 96% in a single pane uncoated glass to even 20% or even less in a double glazed unit with the right coating and inert gas combination.

Less solar heat entering the building therefore less energy and efforts in trying to cool or air-condition the space. (do bear in mind that this will have to be done in conjunction with wall and roof insulation as well as adequately making thr building air and watertight to reap the full benefits.).

It also works better for sound insulation as well also depending on the build-up.

It is also widely used in the middle east and australia and is their climate not comparable or even hotter than ours?

You are right. Its the same technology with thermally broken glass which allows zero heat exchange between the exterior and interior of buildings. We don't have these stuff mostly due to lack of production. Once a country stops producing, it affects the economy and all other sectors.

tushbobo:


You are right. Its the same technology with thermally broken glass which allows zero heat exchange between the exterior and interior of buildings. We don't have these stuff mostly due to lack of production. Once a country stops producing, it affects the economy and all other sectors.

Well, just to clarify Thermally broken construction does not provide zero heat exchange because such a material doesnt yet exists however the reduction in heat transfer is quite quite significant.

For example aluminium has a thermal conductivity of 200 or so and a good insulation material used in thermal breaks have values of about 0.5 and much lower. That means these materials conduct heat 400 times less than aluminium.

We dont have these things in nigeria not due to lack of production, it is lack of knowledge, lack of standards and the lack of use.

We are quite an illustrious bunch, if there is a need for it then i am sure our people will start production to meet the demand. We no dey slack!

The average client needs to be educated, ( the high end clients need less work). The building trades, architect, designers, contractors, MEP engineers, structural engineers and everyone involved in the building construction need to be educated and up their games significantly.
The importers of materials and products will work with demand and supply.

The government needs to be involved in terms of making it a rule that all new builds and substantial renovation works need to meet new standards of construction.

Bodies need to be set up to provide guidance and to maintain reasonable minimum standards and ensure substandard products are not imported or locally manufactured.

These are just a few of the things that need to be addressed in my opinion.

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achieving this kind of work is not too challenging as it were \, but the main issue remains the fact that not many naija guys dont have the patience for this kind of arrangement and so many are so conscious of how much money they wanna make with their properties expecially those that have property in the urban centres

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Hey guys, I'm glad I'm reading a thread like this. I studied many of the replies and noticed that many of them have favoured or are favouring minimalist and mid century contemporary interiors . while I must comend those that posted replies on their abilities to think beyond the box, I must say that the designs I have seen so far are really expensive designs no matter how simple they may look.
a lot of the wood used in those designs were exquisitely processed and finished and you must know that processed wood is expensive. and there are really no industries that support that level of wood processing.
I am an interior designer and as a designer I must tell you that we face a lot of difficulties that impact negatively on our output.
one of the major problems being the lack of industries that support our needs. As a result there is absence of these materials locally which means we have to import and because we cannot readily go into the market to purchase such materials or even view them our design becomes restricted.
another effect of lack of industries is the cost of designing . Most of our clients want the best possible designs at the cheapest possible rate and that becomes a serious problem.
also the architectural style in Nigeria favors the use of very small windows in buildings and this becomes a problem for those of us that do a lot of minimalist designs. If you look at most of the pictures with simple designs you will notice floor to ceiling windows are used mainly. due to low level of security our clients are averse to the idea of floor to ceiling windows.
below is one of my designs, though unfinished, I had to tailor it to suit the Nigerian home. I used a special type of rendering technique which unlike the typical ones we use in Nigeria gives you a picture of how a real life camera view of the interior should look like with 70% accuracy.
if you need more you could chat me on whatsapp:
07062084626

Morewealth121:
its well. I don't have to introduce my job again cos am sick of doing that. am into interior designs also. I try fixing my own kinda idea into something that will make interior looks good and classic. buy Nigeria are not buying from me. FACT. I personal goes into what I called painting designs. designs that appeared more or less like wallpaper, I developed designs and pattern by myself and Nigerians are not buying from me. simply because they do not know the basic knowledge of how good interiors looks like.

please don't take this the hard way but you clearly k ow nothing about colours and how they come out.
I'm sorry.

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kanayorr:
Hey guys, I'm glad I'm reading a thread like this. I studied many of the replies and noticed that many of them have favoured or are favouring minimalist and mid century contemporary interiors . while I must comend those that posted replies on their abilities to think beyond the box, I must say that the designs I have seen so far are really expensive designs no matter how simple they may look.
a lot of the wood used in those designs were exquisitely processed and finished and you must know that processed wood is expensive. and there are really no industries that support that level of wood processing.

This is lovely
What rendering software do u use sir?