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Background: A new landmark in Nairobi's continually changing skyline is gradually emerging in the heart of the city's commercial district.

International Life House, a GBP1 1/2 million luxury office block, will soar to a height of 208 feet when it is completed early in 1971.

Situated between Queensway and Sergeant Ellis Avenue, the 17-storey building will have a landscaped patio covering an area of 6,500 square feet. There will be 13 floors of offices, two basements providing storage space and parking for 180 cars. There will also be a restaurant on the mezzanine floor opening onto a roof garden.

The main office tower, set away from Silopark House and Queensway, will rise straight from the pavement. It's elegant white framework will be contrasted by anti-glare, bronze-tinted glass, sunscreens and window frames. The buildings will be entirely air-conditioned and also have the fastest office lifts in the city - five of them capable of travelling at 500 feet per minute.

Another unusual feature will be inner and outer zones on the office floors. The outer zone is planned for executive officers and the inner zone, encircling the central core of the building, will be for secretarial pools, waiting rooms, filing and computer installations. Offices can be expanded and contracted by use of flexible partitioning, and by designing the building in the shape of a cross, the architects have been able to provide eight outside corner windows, as well as eight inside corner windows.

The building has been designed by Dalgliesh Marshall and Associates of Nairobi. The Queensway Development Corporation Ltd., a wholly-owned Kenyan subsidiary of the International Life Insurance Company (U.K.) Ltd., is erecting the building. International Life, sponsors of the Dover Equity Plan Policy, is financing the development.

Supervising the project is IOS Real Estate Holdings Limited, the real estate division of Investors Overseas Services (IOS), the world's largest financial planning organisation which is closely associated with International Life.

IOS Engineering and Construction Company Ltd. are consultants on the project while INDEVCO Management N.V. will act as leasing consultants to the Queensway Development Corporation. The main contractor for International Life House is Solel Boneh's Overseas and Harbour Works Co. Ltd.