Natural stone cladding for walls ensures a building has unique aesthetic look which is easy to maintain.
Natural stone cladding can be either thinly sliced quarry stone or Mazeras slate stone which is mined from the ground in sheets.
High cost CBD Buildings.
Its quite common to see high cost high rise buildings in Nairobi CBD being clad with such.
Buidings such as Mayfair centre near Nairobi Hospital have even gone further and utilised Mazeras stone as road paving for pedestrians and cars.
Disadvantages.
Building entrances.
Cladding with stone near entrances is not advisable. This is because stone tiles tend to be quite heavy and in case they are loose, can fall and cause serious harm to passers-by below. This Naivas Supermarket in Ngong town has been clad with mazeras at the busy entrance which poses danger when the stones fall to the ground.
Conclusion.
Natural stone is one of the best cladding materials that can be used in buildings. It costs around kes 2,700 per m2 which is not very expensive compared to the effect that it achieves.
Francis Gichuhi Kamau, Architect.
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