President William Ruto, on Thursday, October 13, issued an Executive Order outlining the organisation of his newly formed administration.
Worth noting was the allocation of offices to senior government officials. Ruto's office will be located at State House, Nairobi, while his deputy will be at Harambee Annex.
Prime Cabinet Secretary, Musalia Mudavadi's office will be at the Kenya Railways Headquarters in Nairobi, located off Haile Sellasie Avenue, opposite the Kenya Railways Bus Station.
The building was constructed in 1924 during the colonial era and the reign of Governor Sir Edward Grig.
The architectural design is attributed to Sir Herbert Baker, a British architect who had visited Kenya at the invitation of the then governor Grig.
Notably, Baker has designed several iconic buildings in Kenya, including the Government House, now renamed to State House and the Law Courts in Nairobi.
Kenya Railways Headquarters' design rembles the neo-classical buildings which dominated the colonial era in Africa and parts of Europe.
The designers were keen on ensuring comfort and an auspicious working environment for the administrators of the then Kenya-Uganda Railways Corporations.
The building has four blocks, namely A, B, C and D, each with two storeys apart from D which has four floors.
These four blocks are separated from each by courtyards which are ideal for enhancing lighting in the building. The design also features surrounding the courtyards.
To help shield the building's front face from the afternoon sun, the architect designed it to face the Eastern side while its rear facade faced the west.
In addition, the building has thick walls of between 300 mm and 600 mm, which ensures cool temperatures within the building regardless of the weather conditions.
The courtyard of the Kenya Railways headquarters has fountains and pools which act as heat sinks, cooling the building mass by radiant cooling.
Notably, the building was affected by the 1989 bomb attack on the United States of America Embassy in Nairobi, which left one of its wings ravaged.
The structure has, however, undergone several facelifts to match the current standards of executive office suits.
