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iHub By Erik Hersman / March 1, 2010

The iHub Design & Layout

9 Comments

Two of the best designers in Nairobi, individuals from our tech and design community, have really stepped up. Fady Rostom and Kwame Nyong’o have spent hours with us trying to figure out what to do with this big empty room that is the iHub. It’s hard to express how much time and creative energy go into figuring out something like this, and everyone who uses this space owes a debt of gratitude to the two of them.

What did we want?
We needed a space that could be used by people on a daily basis to sit around and work on their projects, network with their peers or have user-group meetings and workshops. That’s a lot of types of activities and different groups of people to cater to.

Below is the proposed design:

You’ll notice 4 main areas:

• The meeting room: this will have a collapseable wall in the rear, which can be opened to have more of the room see a presentation. It also can be used as general seating for when a meeting is not happening.
• The Chillout Lounge: an area with a raised floor, with low seating on gaming chairs and beanbags, it also houses the library (anyone want to donate some books?) and has low couch-like seating by the windows.
• Coffee area: we’re putting a coffee bar in place, with some cafe-like tables and seating.
• Semi-permanent workspace: there are some long-term desks, lockers and seating available (as referenced in my post on memberships). These are more private, and used by those who have a “red card”.
Tags design, floorplan, Ideas, iHub, kenya, layout, nairobi

Author : Erik Hersman



9 Comments

• Ben Lyon at 16:38:26PM Monday, March 1, 2010

  It’s cool even as a bare room! Excited for Wednesday =)

  Reply

• uberVU - social comments at 16:55:19PM Monday, March 1, 2010

  Social comments and analytics for this post…

  This post was mentioned on Twitter by iHubNairobi: The (proposed) iHub layout and floorplan! http://bit.ly/bzmklD…

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• Wayan at 17:43:29PM Monday, March 1, 2010

  Wow, that’s swank! And I’d definitely want a long-term desk spot if I worked out of Nairobi (maybe that’s why the red cards are time-sensitive – keep me at bay).

  May I suggest more small meeting areas? We’ve found a great need for semi-private areas for 2-5 people to meet at mission*social. The outer deck could be this, but I think it would be too loud for conference calls.

  Reply

• David Otieno at 17:47:46PM Monday, March 1, 2010

  cant wait to see the real thing

  Reply

• tuomas santakallio at 18:20:49PM Monday, March 1, 2010

  Looks good. Looks that i might even be functionable. Let’s wait for Wednesday.

  Reply

• Paul at 18:59:18PM Monday, March 1, 2010

  This is the sort of energy we are talking about, that we need…. it is great. Someday we will remember when the seed was planted..

  Reply

• m-bongo at 20:27:06PM Monday, March 1, 2010

  fantastic, ihub is a result of great minds working together to achieve a common goal, that is creativity and productivity.

  i believe this is the beginning of a wonderful future for the kenyan tech scene.

  mambo fit sana.

  Reply

• murigi.muraya at 20:25:04PM Wednesday, March 3, 2010

  Good stuff (like the coffee bar) to copy.

  Reply

• iHub Build Out and Closure - iHub at 01:03:50AM Wednesday, March 31, 2010

  [...] To get to this layout [...]

  Reply

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