Architects:
Alfredo Resende Architects
Location: Accra,
Ghana
Interior Décor: Alfredo Resende Architects
Project Year: 2015
Photographer: Alfredo Resende Architects
In the growing city of Accra, Ghana,a new twelve-building complex captures the artistic play of facades and elegant block design. It is a development that tackles the housing menace with cost-controlled construction that targets the emerging middle class with the ground floor projected for small-scale commerce. This propels it as an exceptional residential development into an iconic project.
Both the concept creation and urban integration derive from the building land’s availability and geometry. A major importance was given to the quality of spaces especially to recreation areas and green spaces all around. Every building is positioned perpendicularly to the arrangement of streets in order to maximize surrounding areas utilization. The zoning of activities dictates the ground floor use to be primarily for small scale commerce and the upper floors are taken in as apartments. This privacy gradient achieved works well with the quiet living spaces being above the noisy public commercial spaces below.
The supply of basic goods and services for the housing complex will be made through local businesses functioning at the ground floor level. These commercial areas are interconnected with the buildings – there so not neglecting the appropriate circulation space to foster harmonious coexistence. In addition to this, large open green spaces have been considered for different uses particularly for recreational activities.The site conditions determined the concept, building orientation, thus making the buildings perpendicular to the streets. The interactive facades of the buildings face each other while blank walls face the public street, this is to reduce the noise quantity bound to enter the building from the noisy roads. Building openings facing the courtyards create a sense of security as eyes overlooking all open spaces deter crime from occurring in such spaces. In addition to the large green open spaces, considerable areas have been designed for social and support facilities such as medical and day-care centers.
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