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COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE • ACCRA, GHANA
Architects: Mario Cucinella Architects

Area: 17000 m²

Year: 2015

Photographs: Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

Manufacturers: KEIM, Armstrong Ceilings, Greenheck, Guardian Glass, Plaka, Rak ceramics,
Siemens, Trane, iGuzzini, AET UK, Broadcrown, Ghacem and Dangote, Oddicini, Royal
Aluminium, WILO

Associate Quantity Surveyors: A-Kon Consults Limited, Accra

Quantity Surveyors: AECOM

Associate Local MEP Engineers: Impact Technologies Limited, Accra

Construction Company: MICHELETTI LTD

Structural Engineering: Politecnica Ingegneria e Architettura

Associate Local Structural & Constructional Engineers: Twum Boafo & Partners, Accra

Mechanical & Electrical Engineer: Chapman - BDSP

Products used in this Project

MINERAL / ORGANIC PAI…

KEIM
Mineral Concrete Stain
- Concretal®-Lasur
 Architect In Charge And Site Architect: Mario Cucinella, Luca Bertacchi

Model Maker: Hyun Seok Kim, Giuseppe Perrone, Nada Balestri, Luca Sandri, Giulia
Pentella, Alberto Bruno, Yuri Costantini

Architect Associate: Deweger Gruter Brown & Partners

Renderings: Cristian Chierici, CC79

Client: Actis London

City: Accra

Country: Ghana

Did you collaborate on this project?

LESS SPECS

Text description provided by the architects. One Airport Square is a multi-functional building. It
hosts commercial spaces on the ground floor and a ten-floor o!ice block on the southwest of the
lot, due to the specific form and orographic features of the site. In view of the desire for a
contrast between the project area and the surrounding townscape, the rendezvous space for
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 employees and the public received special attention. Here, the space was configured as a public
square, open on the northeast side of the lot while shielded by the commercial floor, arranged as
a ring (shops, restaurants, self-service catering establishments). The generously proportioned
square is suitable for various events, fairs or other activities, and may be used as an exhibition
space for permanently installed works of art. Such initiatives, together with the commercial
activities, will bring the area to life, by day and by night.

One Airport Square is a nine-storey building for o!ices, plus a ground floor designed for
commercial activities, for a total of about 17,000 square meters. Aesthetic elements and
architectural design inspired by the traditional local art and by the from the bark of the palm
trees typical of that area, closely linked to environmental strategies to provide a viable solution
to climate problems. The form and layouts of the o!ice block are the outcome of ongoing design
work based on the functional requirements of the principal and the formal, structural and
energy requirements specified by the multi-disciplinary design group.
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 Thanks to their irregular form, reflecting in part the orographic features of the site, the paved
surfaces link the street with the upper level of the square, where we find the main entrance to
the o!ices and commercial area. A pair of escalators directly join the public space and the two
floors of the underground car park. Even the underground floors are configured considering the
typography to the site and present technical solutions for structural earthquake resistant.

The building envelope is the key element that demonstrates the integration between form,
structure and environmental strategies. The building, which is compact in form, contains within
it a large hall the function of which is to provide lighting and to facilitate natural ventilation of
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 the interiors. Variation of depth of the sha"s determines the configuration of three o!ice types:
maxi, midi and mini. A defining element of the building is the movement generated by the
projecting terraces, which gradually recede as they rise, floor by floor. These section variations
enable increased flexibility in configuring the environments in accordance with the varying
requirements of prospective tenants.

A further defining element consists in the reinforced concrete structure, the inclined piers of
which confer greater rigidity upon the building and the overhangs, while also featuring as a
decorative motif for the front.
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 One Airport Square is the first building in Ghana to have been awarded 4-Stars (Design Stage) by
the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA). The project was designed based on a
detailed analysis of the site, the topographical and optimal orientation to become a point of
reference and example for the new generation of o!ice buildings in West Africa. At this latitude,
the sun's path makes it particularly exposed to solar radiation fronts east and west. This,
combined with medium to high temperatures present during the entire course of the year, made
it necessary to adopt strategies to reduce the need to cool the building.
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 The plant is based on a principle of distribution of the fresh air conveyed in the floating floor
which reaches in a uniform manner throughout the plane. To reduce consumption of drinking
water there are technologies that limit the amount of outflow, the duration and the time of
delivery, while it is expected the reuse of gray water and rainwater for the toilet.
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 The sum of all these elements in One Airport Square was determined by a work of integrated
design that balances architectural and engineering considerations in order to reduce energy
consumption of the building and optimize the use of natural light. The most advanced
technologies are balanced with the local tradition, using the most e!icient design. All of this is
brings to a new idea of beauty: the ecological beauty.
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 Project gallery
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Project location
Address: Accra, Ghana
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 Address: Accra, Ghana

Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.

Published on November 24, 2015

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