19/08/2026
A hotel that doesn’t stand still. A hotel that glows and catches the light through fluorescence, pretending to be a gemstone, not a hotel. Оne of the first impressions that stays with you at MGallery Gem Forest in Nairobi.
Set within an urban forest and named after the Maasai phrase for “cool water”, the hotel carries this idea throughout its interiors.
The name refers to a river that still flows through the city today - a connection to the landscape and history of the place.
For MGallery Gem Forest, S+S translated Nairobi’s geography and heritage into an interior narrative, making “cool water” the conceptual thread running through the design.
Glass bends light rather than simply reflecting it. A skylit atrium is filled with water and banana trees. Bathroom glass shifts in colour as the hours pass.
Created to be felt. By S+S.