Saba is a mixed use project consisting of a guest house and an artist residency. The concept aims to address the underfunding of cultural spaces in Kenya. The intervention proposes the re-appropriation of holiday guest houses in to artist residencies. The programmatic model implemented to sustain the project is called “soft patronage”; the sponsoring of arts and culture through the consumption of an experience. It borrows from historical patronage where, brilliant artists and writers flourished under the support of nobility. Soft patronage is, in essence, the sponsoring of arts and culture through the consumption of an experience. Residencies in Saba will be funded primarily by revenue generated by guests living in the space. During the tourist high season the guesthouse will be made available to the public as a retreat, housing a radical selection of work in the form of 2d, 3d, 4d. Art enthusiasts will get to spend time with one of a kind pieces of art that are produced without the demands of everyday life. Whilst immersed in the cultural paradise that is Lamu. During the low season/residency period, the house will be made available to artists selected annually by a committee of experts. The residency will enable artists to produce or finish projects in complete obscurity without the pressures of everyday life. The residency also aims to be a meeting place for curators, critics and industry professionals, a centre for artistic production, supporting both theory and production.