A former tile warehouse in Accra, Ghana, has been transformed into the headquarters of the African Futures Institute, an independent architecture school founded by Ghanaian-Scottish architect Lesley Lokko.
Designed by Lokko with designer Fred Swart and architects Patrick Gentilezza, Patti Anahory and Laurence Lord, the renovated building contains research and education spaces for the school and cultural spaces for the public to gather.
Situated in the neighbourhood of Osu, it is the first time the African Futures Institute has had a permanent home, after operating through partnerships and temporary spaces since its establishment in 2021.
"The refurbishment gives an existing commercial building in Osu a new civic life as a permanent centre for education, culture and public programming," African Futures Institute told Dezeen.
"Through lectures, exhibitions, workshops, screenings and gatherings, it creates a place where African Futures Institute's work can connect directly with the everyday life and rhythms of Accra," the institute continued.
"We hope people experience it as a framework for cultural activity rather than a conventional institutional building. Above all, it is intended to encourage learning, encounter and the exchange of ideas."
Believed to have been constructed in the late 1950s or early 1960s, based on local oral history, the building envelope of the former tile warehouse was preserved and restored.
Skylights were added to the roof and new wall openings were designed to rationalise the facades.
Interior spaces were organised around the Urban Room, a multi-purpose flexible space that can operate as a lecture hall, studio, cinema, workshop and exhibition hall.
Rammed earth was used in the flooring and for a wall that extends the length of the building, which was finished with linseed oil.
Locally sourced clay bricks, quarry dust, hardwood, metalwork and precast concrete were used elsewhere in the building to form a material palette that complements the industrial former warehouse.
Last year, Lokko and the African Futures Institute launched the Nomadic African Studio educational program, which will continue operations in the new headquarters.
Lokko became the first African woman to win the RIBA Gold Medal in 2024 and was named on Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the same year.
The photography is by Alix McIntosh.