Education centre ‘Teach on the Beach’
LOCATION: Busua, Ghana
YEAR: 2023
STATUS: Competition - Shortlisted
Learn to Flow
A project in collaboration with Andre Kong
Approaching the design we asked ourselves key questions: how can we create a central outdoor heart which all the buildings can embrace and look onto? How can we make buildings that relate to the existing classroom building that is under construction but also make them feel special and unique? Which local forms, and cultural elements can inspire subtle symbolic roles in the design? And how can we build sustainably using local materials and traditional construction techniques?
Teach on the Beach is making an exciting move to a new and larger site, but further from the immediate seafront. We wanted to ensure that it still feels connected to the beach. To do this, we took the architecture of the existing building on site and made the roof flow playfully, dipping to the centre like a sea wave, creating dynamic areas of shaded perimeter circulation. Inside the courtyard, the central pavilion hosts the outdoor kitchen under a viewing platform above, providing shaded views to the ocean.
Beyond the sea, the design language draws inspiration from national motifs and symbols. The footprint of the central buildings curves and hugs the central circular space, reminiscent of Ghanaian Prekese, a fruit with medicinal and culinary significance, whilst the rounded ends and geometry of the classroom roof reminded us of some Oware folding boards. And the tilting columns around the round central outdoor kitchen and viewing deck take inspiration from the strings of a talking drum.
Education centre ‘Teach on the Beach’
LOCATION: Busua, Ghana
YEAR: 2023
STATUS: Competition - Shortlisted
Learn to Flow
A project in collaboration with Andre Kong
Approaching the design we asked ourselves key questions: how can we create a central outdoor heart which all the buildings can embrace and look onto? How can we make buildings that relate to the existing classroom building that is under construction but also make them feel special and unique? Which local forms, and cultural elements can inspire subtle symbolic roles in the design? And how can we build sustainably using local materials and traditional construction techniques?
Teach on the Beach is making an exciting move to a new and larger site, but further from the immediate seafront. We wanted to ensure that it still feels connected to the beach. To do this, we took the architecture of the existing building on site and made the roof flow playfully, dipping to the centre like a sea wave, creating dynamic areas of shaded perimeter circulation. Inside the courtyard, the central pavilion hosts the outdoor kitchen under a viewing platform above, providing shaded views to the ocean.
Beyond the sea, the design language draws inspiration from national motifs and symbols. The footprint of the central buildings curves and hugs the central circular space, reminiscent of Ghanaian Prekese, a fruit with medicinal and culinary significance, whilst the rounded ends and geometry of the classroom roof reminded us of some Oware folding boards. And the tilting columns around the round central outdoor kitchen and viewing deck take inspiration from the strings of a talking drum.