Original featureRenovated warehouse becomes permanent home of African Futures Institute in GhanaDezeen · 29 September 2026 →

Context and Concept

Located in the Ghanaian capital of Accra, the project repurposes an industrial tile warehouse into a dynamic campus for independent architectural education and research. The design strategy focuses on preserving the industrial footprint while carving out flexible interiors suited for academic critique, exhibitions, and collaborative workshops.

The initiative addresses a growing demand for culturally grounded architectural discourse on the continent. By choosing adaptive reuse over new construction, the design team sidesteps the resource-heavy demolition cycle, opting instead for a localized intervention that respects the existing urban fabric of the district.

Collaborative Design and Structure

The transformation was led by Lesley Lokko alongside designer Fred Swart and architects Patrick Gentilezza, Patti Anahory, and Laurence Lord. Together, they reconfigured the cavernous industrial shell to maximize natural ventilation and daylight penetration, crucial elements for building performance in West Africa’s tropical climate.

Structural alterations were kept deliberate and minimal to preserve the raw integrity of the warehouse. The resulting spatial sequence moves from public-facing exhibition zones to intimate seminar rooms, creating a fluid transition between academic output and the surrounding city.

Materiality and Performance

Material selection prioritizes durability, local sourcing, and thermal mass management. The exposed concrete floors, retained steel framing, and newly introduced partitions work in tandem to regulate indoor temperatures naturally, reducing reliance on mechanical cooling systems.

This low-impact approach demonstrates how industrial obsolescence can be inverted into high-value civic and educational infrastructure. The building performs as an active pedagogical tool, teaching students about sustainable material lifecycles simply through its physical presence.

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