A glass-wrapped courtyard planted with bamboo greets residents just beyond the entrance of Moments Villas, setting the tone for a Lavington development designed around nature, privacy and everyday well-being rather than size alone.

The four-home development by Canaan Developers, located along Mzima Springs Road, has been designed to create what its team calls a series of “small arrivals” – individual spaces intended to offer a distinct experience as residents move through the house.

That design approach earned Moments Villas the Best Residential Interior Show Home Africa award at the 2024 International Property Awards, recognizing the project’s interiors.

Each of the four homes measures approximately 5,000 square feet, with the development sitting on a one-acre plot.

For Canaan Developers and Lehem Interiors, which worked on the project’s interior design, the intention was to move away from the idea that luxury is defined primarily by imposing spaces and instead focus on how a home feels and functions.

“The name Moments played a big part in our design philosophy,” said Ace Oreal, Chief Creative Director at Lehem Interiors.

“The house was envisioned to host special features in every space. All these experiences create unforgettable moments.”

That thinking reflects a growing emphasis in residential design on wellness, natural light, greenery and spaces that allow residents to retreat without becoming disconnected from family life.

At Moments Villas, courtyards, gardens, terraces and large glass openings are integrated throughout the house rather than treated as additional features.

“Moments was created for the modern luxury buyer’s need to retreat after a long day and enjoy a moment of quietness, while still staying close to family life and the depth of nature,” said Yohannes Kidane, Head of Business at Canaan Developers.

The interiors were considered alongside the architectural design from the early stages, allowing movement, privacy and household routines to influence the final layout.

“The team at Canaan Developers made it clear they were looking for a house that supports how residents connect with each other and with everything around them,” Oreal said.

“Our thinking with Moments was focused on what each space should feel like to walk into.”

Nature remains a recurring feature throughout the villas.

The entrance courtyard introduces bamboo and natural light immediately after the front door, while the guest wing opens onto a private garden.

The master suite includes a screened balcony large enough to accommodate an outdoor massage table, creating a private space for relaxation beyond the bedroom itself.

“This project is born from the dialogue between nature and architecture,” Oreal said. “That gives Moments its soul.”

The development also makes use of Nairobi’s climate to blur the distinction between indoor and outdoor living.

Courtyards, terraces and gardens repeatedly appear throughout the floor plan, allowing residents to encounter outdoor spaces without necessarily leaving the house.

“If you actually think about it, how many countries are lucky enough to have perfect year-round weather?” Kidane said.

“Isn’t it time our architecture allows us to truly experience Kenya the way it should be experienced?”

Functionality is equally evident in the kitchen, which has been divided into two distinct working areas.

A display kitchen, fitted with an island bar and breakfast nook, forms part of the social living space and opens onto a small courtyard.

Behind it sits a second kitchen connected to the scullery, laundry and staff areas, allowing food preparation and household operations to continue separately from entertaining spaces.

The arrangement responds to a practical challenge increasingly faced in open-plan homes, where kitchens are expected to function simultaneously as social areas and working spaces.

Similar separation is maintained elsewhere in the house, with service areas following their own circulation routes to minimize disruption to family and entertaining spaces.

The project also takes a restrained approach to scale.

While double-height spaces and dramatic entrances remain common features of Nairobi’s luxury homes, the Moments interiors place greater emphasis on horizontal proportions and movement through the house.

“In this project, we wanted to emphasize the horizontal lines,” Oreal said.

“At the same time, to emphasize those lines, we wanted to create a contrast with the vertical lines in the facade. It gives the right balance and attraction.”

One exception is the main living room, which stretches across two storeys and opens through full-height sliding doors onto a garden terrace.

A marble fireplace rises through the space, becoming one of the villa’s strongest vertical design elements.

Glass is used extensively elsewhere, reducing the reliance on conventional feature walls while making natural light, gardens, furniture and artwork part of the visual character of the rooms.

The television has also been moved into a dedicated theatre, leaving the main living area focused on conversation, the garden and fireplace.

Home automation allows residents to control doors, curtains and lighting through a phone.

But the project’s designers say technology, size and materials were secondary to the experience they wanted the house to create.

“The best ingredient in making or designing a house is emotion,” Kidane said. “If you’re doing things with love, I think it will lead you to something that is positive as well.”

Oreal describes the final design as a sequence rather than a single dramatic reveal.

“We designed for a series of small arrivals rather than one grand reveal,” he said.

“We created different moments across the whole house.”

For Canaan Developers, that philosophy represents a broader definition of luxury — one based not simply on how large a home is, but on how well its spaces support daily life.

“We are looking beyond the dramatic size that any developer can build, into the extraordinary moments the villa can give throughout the day,” Kidane said.

“You get to enjoy light falling into the middle of the house at 11am, bamboo behind glass, a terrace door pushed open on a warm evening, and settled ways to enjoy your home.”

At Moments Villas, the proposition is ultimately simple – luxury is not only about how much space a homeowner has, but how deliberately that space has been designed to be experienced.

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