dot.ateliers is a community-oriented and ecologically responsive destination that offers a robust space for artistic production. Located within the Osu waterfront neighborhood in Accra, this artist residency is conceived as an “architectural tool” for rethinking the possibilities of sustainable design. The monolithic three-story structure serves as an incubator, showroom, and gathering point that advances both the Ghanaian arts scene and architectural innovation.
Designed as three stacked volumes, each floor expands in scale and height to accommodate internal programming, from the external garden, café, offer, and library to the studio and gallery space. Enclosing a circulation spine, the structure utilizes a double envelope rammed earth façade which extends from the ground floor to the highest level, leveraging the natural insulating properties of local earth to fosters healthy environments, ecological sensitivity, and a low carbon footprint.
Maintaining visual connections to the emerging waterfront neighborhood, each level features sculpted apertures that frame views of both the ocean and immediate urban context. Encompassing the Accra context, including a glimpses of the Atlantic Ocean and Osu Castle, the art produced and showcased within dot.ateliers is in constant dialogue with the distinctiveness of its surroundings, reflecting the essence of Accra to a local and international audience.
The first floor, accessible by the rammed earth exterior staircase, hosts a studio for artistic production or a gallery space for exhibition by resident artists. The expansive four-meter-high white-wall space provides ample room for creating large format works, while the open floor plan allows flexibility and can be bifurcated to accommodate multiple artists simultaneously.
Referencing the angled of neighboring structures, the top floor hosts a dedicated six-meter-high (19.5-foot-high) gallery. Characterized by a distinctive sawtooth roof design, the roof features north-facing skylights, bathing the gallery in natural diffused light.
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