Freehaus has just completed its reimagining of a 1960s building in London\u2019s Southwark into the new home of The Africa Centre \u2013 an \u2018embassy of optimism\u2019 for pan-African culture. The established London institution has been planning a move for some time, after 60 years in its previous, Covent Garden base. The London architecture studio led by co-founders Jonathan Hagos and Tom Bell won the competition for the new location\u2019s design in 2019. Fast forward three years and one pandemic, and the new Africa Centre is about to open its doors, ready to boost culture and community in its immediate locality and beyond.<\/p>\n
\u2018Southwark is home to the largest Black African community in London and therefore, possibly, the whole of the UK,\u2019 notes Hagos. \u2018We looked at the organisation\u2019s five key pillars \u2013 community, entrepreneurship, intellectual leadership, culture and education \u2013 and worked on different spaces in the building that cater to their needs.\u2019 Now, the redesigned structure \u2013 which used to be a fairly conventional office building \u2013 has been reconfigured to host a caf\u00e9 and restaurant on the ground floor, a bar upstairs, an exhibition space on the second floor, and an education and digital hub, and a business centre in the top two levels (these last two areas are still work-in-progress, subject to additional funding).<\/p>\n
Openness was central to the design development. \u2018We wondered how to make [the space] uniquely African and welcoming, and what \u201cwelcoming\u201d means,\u2019 Hagos says. \u2018We wanted to avoid stereotypes but also celebrate shared traditions, the idea of being pan-African.\u2019 Extensive research led the team to draw inspiration from references such as the work of David Adjaye in creating cultural institutions for Black and Afro-centric organisations; former Africa Centre trustee Chris Spring\u2019s book African Art Close-up; African Architecture Evolution and Transformation by Nnamdi Elleh; the work of Burkinab\u00e9 architect Francis K\u00e9r\u00e9; and Atelier Mas\u014dm\u012b\u2019s Hikma religious and secular complex in Dandaji, Niger.<\/p>\n
Just as the centre is conceived as a beacon of Pan-African culture, a symbol of both unity and diversity within the continent, the project was also the result of a collaboration between several parties, as Freehaus worked closely with interior designer Tola Ojuolape, structural engineers Price & Myers, art curator Alexia Walker, and brand designer Mam\u2019gobozi Design Factory. As a result, the interiors are rich and layered, working on various scales and combining a carefully considered palette of colours, textures and furniture, inspired by and often sourced from the African continent. The quality of light was another element that played a significant role in forming the spaces and choosing the final materials, while details such as the wall colour gradient ensure the space is subtly fine-tuned, offering more than meets the eye at first glance.<\/p>\n
\u2018It was important to us that materials are not homogeneous, you can see the particles that make them and there\u2019s transparency and honesty there,\u2019 Hagos points out. The walls, covered in a textured clay plaster painted in tones of salmon pink and indigo blue, are a case in point. Other key interior elements are the arches sculpted across the ground floor and a large-scale mural that hangs in the feature staircase that unites the social spaces of the ground and first floors. The artwork was painstakingly removed, restored, and brought here from The Africa Centre\u2019s old home in Covent Garden. At the same time, the architects kept a close eye on the building\u2019s energy efficiency, adopting a range of low- and zero-carbon strategies to make sure it performs in an environmentally friendly way.<\/p>\n
The balance of it all pays off, as the completed bar and restaurant spaces, destined to carry the largest numbers of people, spilling out to outdoor terraces in the front and back of the building on both levels, feel welcoming and open. \u2018I had in mind the cover of a Marvin Gaye album,\u2019 Hagos says, referring to the artist\u2019s I Want You album sleeve, \u2018where you can see Black people coming together and enjoying themselves.\u2019 The team\u2019s vision is for this powerful image to come to life once the new home for The Africa Centre is up and running, offering a dynamic hub for creativity, ideas and cultural exchange like no other, with the African continent at its heart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Africa Centre has reopened to a design by London-based architecture studio Freehaus, and is ready to support community and cultural exchange from its new Southwark home<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":11049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,16],"tags":[7,30,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-11052","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture","8":"category-news","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-culture","11":"tag-news"},"yoast_head":"\n