house 24

railway compound, oyingbo,lagos

Brief History

Due to the lack of proper record keeping, the exact date of construction of this building is not known, but it is believe to have been in existence for over a hundred years. The building was initially erected to serve as a residence for the railway drivers who worked on the railway line closeby. Observations from the site lead us to believe that renovation was carried out in the building about 15 - 20 years after construction. The purpose of this renovation was to increase the living space within the building. The initial construction was done using sandcrete block walls and concrete staircases, the additions done during the renovations however were carried out using wooden walls with steel column supports, wooden stairs and steel beams which were gotten from the railway tracks. Additional roofing sheets were also attached to the existing roof to accomodate the expansion. There have also been some other inadvertent changes to the building over the years. The staircase on the right side of the building and the kitchen at the rear have collapsed due to the growing weakness of the building materails. The function of the building changed however during the 90’s where it was used as a Musuem for about a decade before being converted into a residential building. It contains several single bedroom apartments that house large families.