African Buildings Designs: Architecture News
post updated 29 September 2026
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African Architecture – buildings by country
| Egypt | Libya | Morocco |
| Namibia | South Africa | Tunisia |
New Buildings in Africa
e-architect choose major African Buildings.
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Property developments by type:
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African Building Developments
Latest African Building Designs added to this page, chronological:
7 August 2026
Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal
Project Consultancy: Hardel Le Bihan Architectes
photograph : Schnepp Renou
27 July 2026
HEI Schools Forbach Mauritius
Architecture Design: Architects’ Studio Ltd
picture : Eric Lee
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Key African Building Designs 2022 to 2025, chronological:
1 December 2025
Porto Novo Cultural Arena, Benin, west Africa
Design: StudioMAAC ArchitectsPorto Novo, Benin, west Africa
images courtesy of architects practice
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18 November 2024
Noom Hotel Abidjan Plateau, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Architects: SAOTA
image courtesy of architects practice
16 April 2024
Masai Mara Conservation Centre, Kenya, Kenya, East Africa
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has today launched an international open design competition for a new Conservation Centre at the Oloololo Gate, Masai Mara, Kenya, on behalf of Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy, the philanthropic arm of travel company Abercrombie & Kent.
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Africa Architectural Development in 2017
Eritrea World Heritage Site – Asmara: a Modernist City of Africa
On July 8 2017, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s World Heritage Center announced that “Asmara: a Modernist City of Africa,” would become Eritrea’s very first site on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List, under selection criterion ii and iv.
Asmara was once an Italian colony—from the late 1880s through World War II. As a result, Italian architects like Giuseppe Pettazzi built Modernist and Art Deco buildings in the Eritrean capital, such as the Fiat Tagliero and the Cinema Impero buildings.
Today, the city remains a well-preserved example of Italian colonial and Modernist architecture. UNESCO say the designated area includes part of the city that underwent extensive planning between 1893 and 1941, as well as the neighborhoods of Arbate Asmara and Abbashawel.
The World Heritage Committee meets once per year in one of UNESCO’s State Parties. This year the committee inscribed 21 new sites on the World Heritage List, increasing the total number of World Heritage Sites to 1,073.
Africa Architectural Updates 2017
17 Nov 2017
Bristol Zoological Society Field Research Centre, Ankarafa Forest, Sahamalaza Peninsula, Radama National Park, northwestern Madagascar
Design: Landscape architect Grant Associates ; architect Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
photograph © FCBS
Bristol Zoological Society Field Research Centre Building in Madagascar
Landscape architect Grant Associates has teamed up with Bristol Zoological Society (BZS) and the Richard Feilden Foundation (RFF), in conjunction with fellow Bath based architect Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (FCBStudios), in a project to save Madagascar’s critically endangered wildlife, including the blue-eyed black lemur, and their forest habitat.
The Whale Bar, The Maldives
Design: WOW Architects | Warner Wong Design
image Courtesy architecture office
The Whale Bar, St Regis Hotel, The Maldives
27 Jul 2017
British High Commission Project in Accra, Ghana
Design: Gilbert-Ash
British High Commission Project in Accra, Ghana
Award-winning UK construction, refurbishment and fit out contractor, Gilbert-Ash, has been awarded a fit-out project on the British Embassy in Accra, Ghana.
3 May 2017
Mashambas Skyscraper, Manyoni, Tanzania
Architects: Ggrupa
image Courtesy architecture office
Mashambas Skyscraper in Manyoni
An area of cultivated ground; a plot of land, a small subsistence farm for growing crops and fruit-bearing trees, often including the dwelling of the farmer.
2 May 2017
Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa
Architects: Sheppard Robson
image Courtesy architecture office
Nelson Mandela Childrens Hospital
The concept by London-based architects fulfils Nelson Mandela’s dream of providing a specialised facility for children.
18 + 1 Apr 2017
Currency Museum, Luanda, Angola
Design: COSTΛLOPES Architects
photo © Fabrice Fouillete
Currency Museum Luanda Building
The Currency Museum, which opened to the public in 2016, can be seen as one of the many steps towards establishing COSTΛLOPES as one of Angola’s leading architecture offices.
18 Mar 2017
Lusanga International Research Centre for Art and Economic Inequality, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
Design: OMA, Architects
image © OMA
Lusanga International Research Centre for Art and Economic Inequality
On April 21–22, a quintessential White Cube will be inaugurated on a former Unilever plantation in Lusanga, 650 km southeast of Kinshasa, D.R. Congo. Designed by OMA, this White Cube is a central element of the Lusanga International Research Centre for Art and Economic Inequality (LIRCAEI).
More African Architecture News online soon
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Significant African Building Designs 2010 to 2016, chronological:
Africa Architectural Updates 2016
1 Dec 2016
Grand Plaza Hotel, Cheraga, Algeria
Design: DNA Barcelona Architects
image Courtesy architecture office
Cheraga Hotel Building
The hotel has been designed in a manner that perfectly adapts to its environment. The design responds to the existing forms and the urban traces of its surroundings.
29 Oct 2016
New Parliament in Algeria, North Africa
Design: Bureau Architecture Méditerranée
image Courtesy architecture office
New Algerian Parliament
The New Algerian Parliament includes the People’s National Assembly, the National Council (Senate), the Chamber (Congress), and a residence for legislators.
23 Jun 2016
Coral Hotel on the Seychelles
Design: ARCHITECTS OF INVENTION
image Courtesy architecture office
The project implies construction of an upscale lifestyle community comprised of a professionally serviced apartment complex, located on the reclaimed part of the main island of Seychelles– Sailwin.
18 Jan 2016
Finolhu Villas Hotel, The Maldives
Design: Yuji Yamazaki Architecture
image Courtesy architecture office
New Hotel in the Maldives
The world’s first entirely solar powered five-star resort is now open to guests. The Maldives has the lowest average ground level of any nation, which makes for some of the world’s most beautiful beaches.
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Africa Property Developments Updates 2015
21 Oct 2015
Le Parc de Mont Choisy Golf and Beach Estate, Grand Baie, Mauritius
Design: SAOTA
image Courtesy architecture office
Mont Choisy Homes in Mauritius
The site used to be a sugar plantation and has some wonderful historic buildings and avenues of Banyan and Flamboyant trees that will be retained.
26 Jul 2015
Pediatric Cancer Centre, Kigali, Rwanda
Architects: David Adjaye – Adjaye Associates
image Courtesy architecture office
Pediatric Cancer Centre in Kigali
Located in Kigali, Rwanda, on a 4 Hectare site, the pediatric cancer centre will provide a hospital and lodging facility for outpatients who need to reside close to the hospital, as well as residential housing for physicians and nurses.
27 Apr 2015
Disappearing Vernacular African Architecture
Article: Jon Twingi Sojkowski
Verandah wraps around a home Penganga village
Disappearing Vernacular African Architecture
The desire to modernize has created a situation in which traditional customs and practices are being abandoned. This is true even in the most remote of villages.
18 Feb 2015
60 sandbags classrooms, Mbera refugee camp, Mauritania
Architects: FARE Studio
image Courtesy architecture office
Sandbags Classrooms in Mauritania
In Mauritania between 2012 and 2014 FAREstudio operated at the Mbera Refugee Camp as ‘construction expert’ for Italian NGO INTERSOS, an implementing partner of a UN agency within the framework of a primary education program aimed at improving teaching-and-learning provisions in the camp and nearby communities.
11 Feb 2015
Youths Training Center, Sassara, Central African Republic
Architects: FARE Studio
image Courtesy architecture office
Youths Training Center in Central African Republic
FRC is a project that FAREstudio designed and partially managed in a post conflict rural area of Central African Republic of a youths Training Center for the rehabilitation and social reintegration, through training in agricultural and pastoral activities, of children and teenagers with problematic social and cultural backgrounds, including former child soldiers.
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18 Nov 2014
The Legson Kayira Community Center & Primary School, Malawi, southeast Africa
Design: Architecture for a change
Community Center & Primary School Building in Malawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi.
19 May 2014
Ramzi Towers Lagos Building, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria
Design: SPARK Architects
picture from architects
The landmark scheme, designed from SPARK’s London studio, is SPARK’s first significant project in Africa and is scheduled to win planning in June 2014, with Construction beginning this summer.
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17 May 2013
Salam Cardiac Surgery Centre, Khartoum, Sudan – new images / information
Design: Studio Tamassociati
photo : Marcello Bonfanti
The Salam Centre for Cardiac Surgery consists of a hospital with 63 beds and 300 local staff, with a separate Medical Staff Accommodation Compound sleeping 150 people. The centre is built as a pavilion in a garden with both primary buildings organised around large courtyards.
3 May 2013
Revival Sunset Chapel, Libreville, Gabon
Design: FATmaison
image from architect
Revival Sunset Chapel is a public church built in a forest in the center of the capital of Gabon, Libreville. In an extremely controversial state of central Africa the primary need is to find a reference symbol that unifies the moral area and the civil area.
29 Apr 2013
Japanese Cultural Center in Africa, Kinshasa City, D.R. Congo
Design: Beijing Matsubara and Architects
This building has built by “grass-root grant aid fund” of Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan) in area of Gombe Institute of Pedagogique, the center part of Kinshasa city, D.R. Congo.
27 Feb 2013
United Bank of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, north east Africa
Design: Söhne und Partner Architekten with BET architects
United bank represented in units coming together in to a single entity in a seamless fashion. These units are the shares that make up the bank. Shares are the people that came together to make this bank a reality.
25 Feb 2013
Jabi Lake, Abuja, Nigeria
Design: Studio Seilern Architects
A double frontage concept: There are two distinct frontages: the road-front and the water-front. Each influences the form making of the buildings. The placement and scale of the buildings will create the identity of each and how it relates to the wider context.
28 Jan 2013
British Council Building Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
Architects: The Manser Practice
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African buildings architects in 2012
12 Oct 2012
C Spot Africa, Angola, south west Africa
Design: Segmento Urbano Arquitectos
This project comes as a reflex of a sustainable mission where the developer contributes to reduce levels of illiteracy by awarding the communities where they build roads, and viaducts, and bridges with a Spot, which is more than a school, but actually a space that foments social elevations through education.
14 Aug 2012
Clifton House, Cape Town, South Africa
Design: SAOTA – Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen Architects
The clients, a British couple living in Cape Town, requested a six-bedroom, seven-level home that makes the most of the site, the views and the mountain. The lower levels of the existing structure were totally remodelled while the upper level was demolished to allow for two new levels.
19 Jun 2012
Addis Ababa Stadium, Ethiopia
Design: LAVA with JDAW
New national stadium building will have a new FIFA and Olympic-standard 60,000 seat stadium in Addis Ababa thanks to a competition winning design combining local identity with new technology. LAVA (Laboratory for Visionary Architecture) and Designsport collaborated with local Ethiopian firm JDAW to win the international architecture competition for a national stadium and sports village.
14 May 2012
Clockwork Embassy Cameroon, Yaoundé, Cameroon, west Africa
Matteo Cainer Architects
The design of the new Swiss Embassy in Yaoundé pays tribute to its renewed presence in the Cameroon and a respect for the uniqueness of the site. The resulting proposal is an elegant ensemble that encapsulates the identity and self-image of the Swiss people and their values.
30 Apr 2012
Heritage Place, Lagos, Nigeria, west Africa
Design: Capita Symonds
Heritage Place Lagos
Plans unveiled for a major new office development in Lagos. The building will be a landmark within Lagos combining striking façade design and top-end office space.
22 Jan 2012
Sipopo Congress Center, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea
Design: Tabanlioglu Architects
The rectangular two-storey block is nested in a semi-transparent metal envelop as a shield protecting from strong lights and create an implication of security, protecting the interiors from sharp sun beams yet benefiting the daylight at optimum.
19 Mar 2012
Radisson Blu Hotel Dakar, Senegal, western Africa
Design: SAOTA Architects and Antoni Associates
“Overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and tucked away in the Fann Corniche, an area that houses exclusive villas and international embassies, the new Radisson Blu Hotel in Dakar is a contemporary expression of Senegalese Style,” says Project Partner, Greg Truen. The hotel was commissioned by the Teylium Group and forms part of a larger development which includes designer retail stores, apartments, spa, cinemas and a bowling alley.
6 Feb 2012
Patongo Training Centre – information re Brick Making
Uganda Architecture
In all of our projects we aim to use the most sustainable – environmentally, socially and financially – materials available. Determining what these are requires undertaking an initial materials audit, a study of vernacular technique, and a skills audit to determine the best approach and where it might be possible to improve existing techniques and skills.
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African property built environment, modern architecture images in 2010
31 Mar 2010
Huvafen Fushi Maldives Resort
Design: Studio RHE
Huvafen Fushi Maldives Resort
This underwater spa forms part of a luxury resort in the Maldives. It includes two double treatment rooms and a relaxation area.
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African Architecture Developments
Building Developments + New Architecture Designs – Contemporary Built Environment.
African Building Projects, alphabetical:
7th of October University, Libya, north Africa
Design: RMJM Architects
Bani Walid building – new campus
Aging in Africa, Cote D’Ivoire
Design: HWKN architects
Aging in Africa
Bibliotheca Alexandrina – Alexandria Library Building, Egypt
Design: Snohetta Architecture
Botswana Design Competition : Science and Technology Park – Innovation Hub
British Council Building Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
British Council in-house architects
British High Commission Kampala, Uganda
Design: Kilburn Nightingale Architects
British High Commission Kampala
Butaro Hospital Building, Burera District, Rwanda
Architects: MASS Design Group, USA
In the design of the hospital, MASS Design Group and PIH sought to create a more holistic model of architecture that included the design of an appropriate, state-of-the-art hospital while also fully choreographing the process of construction to employ, educate and empower the local community. Beyond providing access to first-rate healthcare facilities, the Butaro Hospital project was used as a way to spur grassroots business and development. The building was constructed with 100% local labour.
Calabar International Center, Nigeria
Henning Larsen Architects
The Calabar International Conference Centre consists of four adjoining, sculptural volumes. The building is situated on top of a hill and has a panoramic view from the foyer. The location of the center on the middle of the hill creates a natural amphitheatre with a room for several thousand people on the one side and a spectacular view of the river delta on the other side.
Cape Town, South Africa – World Design Capital 2014 shortlisted
Cape Town Buildings
CBF, Burkina Faso
Design: FAREstudio
Burkina Faso building
Congo Schools for Article 25, Democratic Republic of Congo
Congo School Buildings
Cyrene Declaration, Libya
Design: Foster + Partners, UK
Cyrene Declaration
Freedom Park, Salvokop, near Pretoria, South Africa
Design: GAPP / MMA / MRA Architects
One of the key Presidential Legacy Projects, The Freedom Park was officially launched on 1 June 2000 as a response to the need identified by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for symbolic reparation of past conflicts in the history of South Africa.
Grand Museum of Egypt Building, Cairo
Design: Heneghan Peng Architects
photo : Richard Davies
The proposal for the Grand Egyptian Museum begins by forming a new ‘edge’ to the Plateau, by creating a gentle slope as a thin veil of translucent stone structured by fractal geometry; opening and closing like foldings within the desert sand.
Grand Egyptian Museum Cairo : Entry
Hanimaadhoo Airport, The Maldives
Design: Haptic Architects / Aviaplan
Hilton Windhoek, Namibia
Design: Wasserfall Munting Architects
Kampala Tower, Uganda
Design: Capita Symonds
Capita Symonds has unveiled plans for a new development in the Ugandan capital Kampala.
The company has designed the proposed ‘Kampala Tower’, a 222m high commercial building with public square which will be a new landmark for the city. Comprising 60 storeys, it will be the tallest tower in Africa and will house over 100,000 sq m of office and retail space for up to 12,500 people. A public plaza at the entrance will create a new centre for events against the back drop of the tower and surrounding hills.
Libyan University Buildings, Libya
Design: BDP
Libyan university architecture
Luanda House Competition
African House Competition, Luanda Angola : Lisbon Architecture Triennale
Maldives Resort Design, Indian Ocean
Design: OFIS architects
The layout of facilities was chosen carefully with help of the local environmental experts – depending on position of reef, sea erosion, wind, existing vegetation and highs-the Maldivian urbanistic law has a very interesting high restriction-no building must be higher than the tallest tree on the island.
Mapungubwe Centre, South Africa
Design: Peter Rich Architects
Mapungubwe Interpretation Centre
Media and Cultural City, Tripoli, Libya
Design: Astudio
Libyan Building
Melaku Center, Tigray, Ethiopia
Architect: Xavier Vilalta
Melaku Center Ethiopia Building
Museum of Conflict Tripoli, Libya
Design: Metropolitan Workshop
Museum of Conflict Tripoli
Portside Cape Town, South Africa
Design: Louis Karol Architect
Portside Cape Town
Royal Netherlands Embassy, Maputo, Mozambique
Design: Claus en Kaan Architecten
Dutch Embassy Africa, Maputo
Sierra Leone School Building
Design: Foster + Partners
Sierra Leone School
Soccer City Stadium, South Africa
Design: BUE & Partners with Populous
Soccer City Stadium + Soccer City Stadium Building
South African Embassy, Ethiopia
Design: MMA Architects
South African Embassy Ethiopia
Tyhume Valley Theatre, Eastern Cape
Design: Ryder Architecture
Tyhume Theatre
Uganda Vocational Training Centre Building
Ugandan Building
University of The Gambia – New Campus
Design: Snøhetta, Oslo
University of The Gambia Buildings
Villagio, Accra, Ghana
Design: Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM), London
Villagio Accra Buildings
Vlisco Boutique, Benin, west Africa
Design: Davy Grosemans, Kurt Carmans, Fre Lemmens, Serge Haelterman
Vlisco Boutique Benin
World Cup Stadiums
South Africa World Cup Stadiums
More modern African Building Developments online soon.
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African Buildings by country
Major Africa Contemporary Developments + Buildings – New Built Environment:
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African Buildings Projects – No Images
African Institute of Science & Technology – University campus, Abuja, Nigeria
2006-
Massimiliano Fuksas Architects
RIBA Architecture Competition win – Nelson Mandela Institute
Entry also by Allies & Morrison with Godwin Hopwood Kuye, Lagos
Al Asmariya university – new campus, Zletin, Libya
2008-
RMJM Architects
Botswana Innovation Hub, Africa
Botswana Innovation Hub : Design Competition
British Council, Lagos, Nigeria
2006
Allies and Morrison Architects
British Embassy, Algiers, Algeria
2007
John McAslan & Partners
British Embassy Nairobi, Kenya
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Cullum & Nightingale
British Embassy, Harare, Zimbabwe
2007
Manser Practice
Carlton Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa
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Education & Cultural Centre – British Council building, Nairobi, Kenya
2005
Design: Squire & Partners
Equiano Centre, Waterloo, Sierra Leone
2008-09
Design: Willson & Bell
Government Building, Tripoli, Libya
2007
Design: Buro Happold + Léon Wohlhage Wernik
Architecture competition winner
Guludo Tourist resort, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique
2005
Design: Cullum & Nightingale
Housing project, Tripoli, Libya
2007
Design: VBM Architecten
IT Park – proposal, Kigali, Rwanda
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Spacial Solutions, Munich
Mixed-use development, Harare, Zimbabwe
1996
Mick Pearce
Murtala Mohammed International Airport Hotel Complex, Lagos, Nigeria
2007-
Capita Percy Thomas, Architects
£25m
Museum of Civilisations, Réunion – Indian Ocean island
2008-10
Design: X-TU, Paris
Red Location Museum of the People’s Struggle, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Date built: 2006
Design: Noero Wolff Architects
Royal Netherlands Embassy, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Date built: 2007
Design: Dick van Gameren and Bjarne Mastenbroek
The Royal Netherlands Embassy Mozambique
photograph : Christian Richters
Sasakwa Hill Lodge, Singita Grumeti Game Reserves, Tanzania
Date built: 2006
Design: WATG – Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo
Soccer City Stadium, South Africa
Design: BUE & Partners with Populous
Soccer City Stadium Building
Telkom Joburg Tower, Johannesburg, South Africa
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Tallest structure in Africa at the time of writing.
More African Building Developments online soon.
Location: Africa.
Buildings / photos for the African Architecture Designs page welcome.