Government House (French: Hôtel du Gouvernement), colloquially known as Immeuble du Gouvernement (Government Building), or Bâtiment Intelligent (Smart Building), is a nine-story building located in the Gombe commune of

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. It is situated along

Boulevard du 30 Juin The Boulevard du 30 Juin ("Boulevard of June 30th") is a major 5‑km street in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is the city center's main transport artery, connecting the southern area of La Gombe with Kintambo and the Ngalie ...

and houses some central government ministries and accommodates various public services. The building was officially inaugurated by then-President

Joseph Kabila Joseph Kabila Kabange ( , ; born 4 June 1971) is a Congolese politician and former military officer who served as the fourth President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2001 to 2019. He took office ten days after the assassination o ...

on July 20, 2015, alongside the National Unity Monument at the building's frontage. Covering a total area of 23,300 square meters, it was constructed by the Chinese company SZTC (Société Zhengwei Technique Congo), employing approximately 500 Congolese and 200 Chinese workers.

History

Construction

President

opened the project on August 1, 2013, at the Place Royale in the Gombe commune of

to accommodate ministers and their staff in the urban confines of Kinshasa. Fridolin Kasweshi, the Minister of Territorial Development, Urban Planning, Housing, Infrastructure, Public Works, and Reconstruction, stated that the project was expected to last 20 months. It was designed as an eleven-story building with a basement for technical services, a ground floor for housing protocol and security services, a bank branch, and a restaurant. The project wasfunded from the government's improvement of public finances management.

Opening

During the inauguration ceremony on July 20, 2015, following the 55th anniversary of independence, the Hôtel du Gouvernement was unveiled, revealing a nine-story building with an associated fiscal expenditure of $41 million. It has 135 offices for administrative staff, 16 conference halls, 133 offices for auxiliary staff, 6

elevators An elevator (American English) or lift (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive tracti ...

changing rooms ''Changing Rooms'' is a do-it-yourself home improvement show broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC between 1996 and 2004. The series was revived on Channel 4 in 2021. The show was one of a number of home improvement and lifestyle shows ...

and was constructed in accordance with

international standards An international standard is a technical standard developed by one or more international standards organizations. International standards are available for consideration and use worldwide. The most prominent such organization is the International O ...

, prominently featuring

fire safety Fire safety is the set of practices intended to reduce destruction caused by fire. Fire safety measures include those that are intended to prevent wikt:ignition, the ignition of an uncontrolled fire and those that are used to limit the spread a ...

protocols, a central air conditioning system, state-of-the-art acoustic apparatus, intranet networks,

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

infrastructure, dynamic display mechanisms, vigilant

surveillance cameras Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal ...

, and

power supply A power supply is an electrical device that supplies electric power to an electrical load. The main purpose of a power supply is to convert electric current from a source to the correct voltage, electric current, current, and frequency to power ...

. The

conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

and

training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

rooms occupy the intermediate floor, while the eight contiguous levels are reserved for ministerial cabinets and their staff. The

terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk a ...

and

heliport A heliport is a small airport which has a helipad, suitable for use by helicopters, powered lift, and various types of vertical lift aircraft. Designated heliports typically contain one or more touchdown and liftoff areas and may also hav ...

are on the roof level, while the basement levels accommodate the technical services. The ground floor is allocated for protocol and security services, a bank, and a restaurant. In 2023, Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde Kyenge inaugurated an emergency medical unit consisting of a reception area, a triage box for patient categorization, a doctor's office, two nurses' stations, a pharmacy, a laboratory replete with a screen for the examination of medical imagery and procedures, a VIP observation room, a standard observation room, and shower facilities.

References

{{coord, -4.3137, 15.2827, type:landmark_region:CD, display=title Buildings and structures in Kinshasa Buildings and structures completed in 2013 Politics of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Communes of Kinshasa Gombe, Kinshasa

History

Construction

Opening

See also

References