I want to be the cool kid.
I know you’re probably saying, “That’s so childish. You shouldn’t want to be cool anymore; it makes no sense.” Maybe that’s because we often associate “being cool” with owning the latest shoes, wearing designer clothes, or being driven in a Bentley for evening golf with your buddies. Now that’s cool, right? But we forget that the reason anyone was ever cool was that they stood out—we could pick them from among the crowd. It was never about the clothes or the car; they were not seeking validation. The things we associate with coolness are just labels—signs of hard work paying off.
And though not all hard work pays, yours should. And that’s why we do what we do.
The Law of Heights.
The higher you go, the cooler it becomes. The law is basic; you can’t refute it. When you launch a rocket or project an object at a super high speed into space, you’ll notice that it starts to cool down as it ascends. The temperature in space is freezing. But beyond the science, what does that observation mean?
Firstly, you can’t go high by going slow. High is not a direction you go passively. High means going against gravity, against the ordinary. To those who are going high, adhering to gravity isn’t normal. It’s against the fiber of their belief. If you go higher by floating—well, balloons are easier to poke. There is no easy way to go high because the world is designed to keep you on the ground, where it is crowded. But for some, gravity is an anomaly, and it only exists to be moved against.
The ground can mean many things.
It could be the locale that you were born in, the opportunities you didn’t have growing up, or the well-trodden path society expects you to follow. Yet there are always people who defy the odds, who say no to gravity and break the mold.
Some say the way to the top is slow and steady, but is that really true? It might apply to those moving along the ground, but to those aiming for the top? Not likely. The way to the top can be fast, incredibly fast.
Consider a sprint.
The men’s 100-meter world record is 9.58 seconds, set by Usain Bolt in 2009. The women’s record is 10.49 seconds, set by Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988. In these scenarios, the fastest competitor claims the title. That’s the race to the top—the fastest man wins. But the race itself doesn’t define them. It’s merely a reflection of years of preparation.
The sprint lasts mere moments, but it took multiple years of training—early and lonely mornings in the cold and late nights on the treadmill. The goal was never to just break another man’s record but to push the bar for what is humanly possible. And though the rocket reaches its peak speed in seconds, it took millions more to study what it would take to send it there—and relentless hours working nonstop to ensure it gets there.
And once you’re at the top, it’s suddenly cooler. The same goes for architecture.
The Eiffel Tower is the face of Paris for a reason. When Gustave Eiffel’s creation surpassed the Washington Monument, it became the tallest man-made structure in the world, holding the title for 41 years until the Chrysler Building took over in 1930. Its world dominance, just by the record it broke, made it a champion. The Empire State Building followed, reigning for 40 years from 1931 to 1971. Then came the Burj Khalifa, the Pyramids of Egypt—the list goes on.
But behind each of these icons lies an extraordinary story. The Egyptians, under the harsh rule of the Pharaohs, labored in brutal conditions to build monuments that would define history. The Eiffel Tower required 18,038 metal parts, 5,300 workshop drawings, 50 engineers, 150 factory workers, 300 site workers, 2.5 million rivets, 7,300 tonnes of iron, and 60 tons of paint.
Uganda’s extraordinary story.
Each great building tells a story, and Cadenza is telling that of Ugandan and African ambition—how the list of buildings that came before it paved the way for this magnificent structure to come through.
Yes, the great ones are few. And yes, it might be lonely. But they belong up there. You belong up there. You worked for it. But does that mean the top is lonely? Maybe. And it takes something only a few people have—to be lonely.
You will be the only rocket in space. There is only space for so many people on a magazine cover. And a gold medal can only be worn on one neck. The top has always had a characteristic of loneliness—because it demands grit and resilience. Because ordinary air suffocates those meant for higher altitudes. Because only those who endure the solitude receive the reward. The top has its own atmosphere, just like space. A normal person would be crushed under the pressure. But for those built for greatness, it’s the only place they can truly breathe.
The same goes for the Cadenza unit. It’s Uganda’s tallest. Built for Uganda’s greatest.
Uganda’s Tallest Residential Tower.
So, what is the tallest residential tower in Uganda? The answer is Cadenza Residences, set to take the crown as Uganda’s tallest residential building by 2027. When people ask, “What is the tallest residential building in Uganda, and how many floors does it have?” — the answer will be Cadenza, rising 24 floors above Kampala’s skyline. Among the top 10 tallest buildings in Uganda, Cadenza isn’t just another number on a list—it’s the future of luxury living.
The race is on. And the winner is clear. Soon, “What is the tallest residential building in Uganda?” won’t be a trivia question.
Being the tallest means occupying space few can claim. It’s about reaching heights others haven’t dared to. VAAL Real Estate is entering Uganda with a landmark project, fully aware of where we belong—at the top. Not because we want to, but because we know no other way. And neither do you.
Yes, it’s lonely at the top. But it’s where you belong. Own that unit.
