St Austin Cemetery, Muthangari was a unique project of its kind, which entailed a facelift of an existing cemetery as well as expansion of the space to create room for more in-ground and above-ground interments to serve the clergy and religious persons of the Archdiocese of Nairobi. The number of existing in-ground interments before the project commenced was estimated to be 310 graves.  The project commenced on 19^th July 2022 with an initial contract duration of 6 weeks. The contract timeline was however extended till 23^rd June 2023.

The scope for this project, unlike any other projects where scope has to be succinctly defined prior to construction phase, was amorphous with no definite form, magnitude and shape. It demanded some unique project management skills, technique and tools to ultimately deliver the desired product. As an office, we have dealt with all manner of projects in quite challenging circumstances. However, lack of clear scope definition made the project albeit more complex regardless of its relatively small size. At one point, the contractor decided to disregard our instructions in both the Bills of Quantities and specifications; went ahead and did their own thing. Our team swiftly addressed these challenges. A recurrence of the issue happened and the only option left, unfortunately, was to terminate the contractor

The initial idea was to improve the walkways using cobblestones and the main contractor was tasked with checking for a suitable colour for the employer to choose from. The Employer eventually settled on the use of chiseled quarry stone paving blocks after considering cost and the lead time required in production of the cobblestone. The final product reflected the walkways at the Resurrection Garden, Karen and were both durable and cost effective.

The initial sample done by the main contractor for the graves entailed removal and realignment of the existing crosses but this was rejected by the Owner/Licensor and the contractor was instructed to reinstate the demolished crosses. It was later agreed to remove all the existing plinths and kerbs around the graves and instead construct concrete bases measuring 1000 x 750 x 250mm deep in line with each removed plinth/kerb. The idea of the bases was to standardize cemetery marker language and create better grave alignment so as to create a more harmonious ambience prior to the start of landscaping.

The Employer requested to have the sample of the Crypt included as part of the initial scope so as to enable the potential users get a better feel of what this interment option entailed. Crypt are basically concrete structure made to have compartments where a casket cane be put and permanently closed.

Once the sample done was approved, the landscaping installation commenced with each row having a selected plant pallet with the areas in between the concrete bases planted with grass for ease of maintenance. A grotto was added along the Eastern boundary to balance out the crypt as well as create an opportunity for ‘Our Lady of Consolation statuary’ to be installed by the Owner/Licensor at a later date.

For ease of maintenance, it was agreed to install solar garden lights. In addition, garden benches were also included as part of the scope to be installed at designated places.

Even with the scope dynamics, Aegis played a key role in ensuring the project was delivered in good quality and within budget.

The time overrun experienced and inconveniences caused by the initial main contractor were regrettable. The project is estimated to have created approximately 403 new in-ground and 288 above-ground interment lots thereby more than doubling the capacity of the site and increasing its useful life by at least 10 years. The works have also resulted in a total facelift of the cemetery as evidenced by the increase in number of visitors and length of stay currently being witnessed at the facility.