Love Equals Football in Keta, African Sports Venue Architecture, Architect Design, Pictures
Love Equals Football in Keta, Ghana
Contemporary Waterfront Sports Venue Development in Africa design by Inter Urban Studios
14 Oct 2019
Design: Inter Urban Studios
Location: Keta, Ghana, Africa
Keta Sandlanders Football Club
As part of volunteer work for Architecture for Humanity London, Inter Urban Studios are currently delivering a new football pitch and community centre for the Keta Sandlanders Football Club, a co-op in Keta, coastal Ghana, that provides local youth a place to foster sporting skills, a place for community activities, as well as guidance on sustainable farming techniques.
Local contractors as well as the local community will construct the new centre out of earthbags, a simple solution to the expense of imported material and the lack of good soil on the site. It can be rendered to give the appearance of concrete block, an aesthetic concern that we have struggled with when specifying sustainable materials in Ghana. Justifiably, the prevailing opinion is that proper buildings are made from block and anything using earth is tribal and backwards. We hope to show that the new centre will not give the appearance of a ‘mud hut’ but a wonderful piece of lasting architecture that all can be proud of. With some of the local community helping with the easy construction techniques, perhaps by seeing the process the stigma can be removed.
The centre is composed of two major elements: the inner, shaded area, and the outer wall and roof, sheltering the inner meeting area from the direct sun of the western and eastern aspects. The wing shaped roof orientated to the prevailing winds accelerates the airflow across the ceiling creating negative pressure that draws hot, stale air out from the meeting area. This is further assisted by the latticework wall enclosing the meeting room, a pattern directly related to the traditional patterns of the area for ‘male’ and ‘female’ fishing nets. At night, light filtering through the lattice will act as a beacon for the community in the lightly developed village.
Finally, the model farm will serve to rekindle the vanishing shallot and coconut farms that once brought prosperity to the community. We look to use composting latrines as part of the holistic approach to architecture, and the resulting fertiliser used in the model farm as an example of sustainable living as well as improving sanitation and hygiene.
Love Equals Football in Ghana – Building Information
Architects: Inter Urban Studios
Project Budget: $150000
Love Equals Football in Keta, Ghana images/information received 141019
Location: Keta, Ghana, West Africa
African Buildings
Africa Architectural Projects
African Architecture Designs – chronological list
Ghana Buildings
Villagio Accra
Design: Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
images from architect
Villagio Accra
British High Commission Project in Accra
Design: Gilbert-Ash
British High Commission in Ghana
Architecture Workshop in Ghana
West African Buildings
Dakar Railway Station, Senegal, western Africa
Design: Iglo Architects
image from architects
Dakar Railway Station Building
Vlisco Boutique, Benin
Davy Grosemans, Kurt Carmans, Fre Lemmens, Serge Haelterman
Benin Building
Aging in Africa, Cote D’Ivoire
HWKN architects
Aging in Africa
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