A preview of Karen’s new happening place

I asked Philippe Cauviere how The Hub at Karen is coming on. He should know best because he is the Estate Development Manager, an experienced hotelier, food and beverage expert – and the man on the spot. He invited me to have a look. So I went and I did.

First, a few facts:

• The Hub is 200 metres from the Karen roundabout and along the Dagoretti Road;

• It is an ‘open air mall’ of six separate buildings around a 22,000 square foot piazza;

• It has a 44,000 square foot lake as a backdrop of the centre, overlooked by restaurants;

• There’s space for over 1,200 cars;

• Over 300,000 square feet are taken up by a hypermarket, shops, offices, wellness, medical and entertainment spaces.

So you will gather from this that The Hub is big; yes, it is 20 acres big.  But it is not its size that makes it so special. More important is the design and the vision that inspired that design. It is very different from all other malls in Kenya – even from Village Market, the nearest in concept.

A marketing presentation for The Hub put it this way: We are lifestyle;  We are a revolution; We are the way forward;  We are now… tomorrow.

No, picking up that last point, the project has not been significantly delayed; it is due to open in November, rather than the originally predicted September. I guess they meant to say (or should have said), ‘We are tomorrow...now’. Because the concept is certainly very fresh for Kenya.

The difference from other malls is apparent as soon as you pass through the main gate. Despite being kitted out with a hard hat and a yellow waistcoat (this is still something of a building site) and despite the movement of workmen and tipper trucks and the busy sounds of clattering and hammering, you can also see the trees that have been carefully left – and neither they nor you are dwarfed by the two-storey buildings.

And especially when you stand in the central piazza, you don’t feel you are in a shopping mall. It’s as if you are in a town square – with its clock tower and surrounding walkways. Unlike the central space at the Village Market, with its winding streams and food courts, the square will be left open as a space for fairs and shows and concerts – and all manner of public entertainments.     

I had met with Philippe a couple of years ago at a breakfast presentation on the project. He said that the design of The Hub had been inspired by the squares of Europe:

‘Remember the villages in France, Italy or other European countries – they all have a square with pubs, cafés and Sunday markets. They are happening places, and that’s what we want to create with the piazza – a happening place. And the surrounding architecture will have a residential feel.’

The other day, looking round from under the clock tower, I could well understand – could feel – what Philippe had been talking about. The piazza is surrounded by open walkways. (in fact, there is only one enclosed walkway in the whole complex.) I could imagine how the cafés will be that will look out on the square. And I could see again the pavement cafés I had learnt to appreciate (coming from a cold east-coast town in England) when I had first cycled with my sister to Paris.

‘This will not be your bog-standard square,’ Philippe said, as we stood there. True. They will be smart cafés, the ones around the central piazza. The food-court type will be further back and alongside the children’s play area and the entertainments centre. They will be quite special too – including spaces for skate-boarding and paint-balling.

Walking round, we came to a huge pillared space.

“Is this a car park?” I asked.

“No, it’s not,” Philippe said with a laugh. ‘This will be Carrefour.’

So the French hypermarket chain, the world’s second largest retailer, will be opening in The Hub (as well as at the Two Rivers shopping complex in Runda, I understand) to give some healthy competition to the likes of Nakumatt, Uchumi and Tuskys.

Out front, there will be a popular Artcaffé, with an open-air bar. Out back, there will be the man-made lake, which will be well enjoyed by the people at the fine-dining places that overlook it.  And beyond the lake there are woods. Another distinguishing feature of The Hub is that over half of its space will be green.

“This is a place where you will want to spend time,” Philippe said. With its array of shops, its restaurants and bars, its entertainment facilities, and its events on the piazza, I reckon he could well be right.

Writer is managing director of iDC