Accra North Site

Unlike many other African cities, Accra retains a strong relationship between building and landscape and it was this relationship that formed the underlying theme of our proposals.

On an intense day, asphalt will heat to 65°, a softer pavement to 50°, and a natural green surface will remain at or below 40°. Our idea was to cool the city by removing the asphalt and re-conceive the entire site as a forest – a new urban social environment that can withstand the Accra climate, where pedestrians could walk, play, interact and shop in the shade of trees.

Due to the fast growth of the country, demand for commercial, residential and retail areas can change quickly. The project has been designed as a toolkit for decision making, rather than a finite masterplan and allows for maximum flexibility between commercial, residential, retail usage, density ratios and phasing scenarios, as well as the ability to adapt to the future needs of the city.

The uses of the site are interconnected, creating a large active public space spanning the entire site. Clusters of buildings are organised loosely, occupied by either residential or offices at upper levels, and retail at ground. A ribbon-like retail element links cluster to cluster and contains double-height units which could be occupied by shops, cafes, kindergartens or leisure facilities.

Rather than committing to a large cluster of buildings, we chose to break the building units into smaller clusters of three, four or five components. A loose arrangement creates the possibility of a flexible plan that generates multiple aspect residential units, or clusters with multiple corner offices. The masterplan allows for each building cluster to be used as an office space, residential building or indeed a mixed-use building with offices at base and residential at higher levels, with floor-to-floor heights of 3.6m and a fully integrated M&E strategy allowing for this flexibility.

Akin to New York’s highline, the proposed raised promenade provides outdoor amenity space for residents, separate to the retail park below. The theme of the forest extends up the high-rise clusters, where laser-cut panels on the building façades create an organic pattern which also functions as a shading device. The experience of a typical retail mall is internalised, captive, and relies on destination shopping. By turning this model inside out, the retail experience addresses its urban context and actively contributes to the dynamicism of the public space.

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