Usually representing spirits, ancestors or the primordial couple, these figures were placed in shrines and treated with great respect. Through a wide range of style, scale, belief and function the couples depicted share a timeless, serene equality necessary to the continuity of their societies.

British Council, Freetown / Manser Practice

Architects: Manser Practice
Location: Freetown, Sierra Leone
Project Year: 2013
Photographer: Manser Practice
Website: www.manser.co.uk

- 12 November 2015
- Edwin Seda
Embassies , Urban Renewal , Sustainability , Editor's Choice , Selected Works , Modern Africana , Contemporary African Directory , Africana ,

The British Council is perhaps the biggest export of architectural heritage across the world, comparable only in second place to the Dutch. The latest addition to the portfolio of architecture in Africa is the Freetown British council, a building that has now become synonymous with social and cultural endeavors in Sierra Leone.

British Council, Freetown / Manser Practice

The building alludes to clean and entrenched values of embassies but still bears with it a homely feel, a departure from the contemporary office like feel to embassies and a foray into a scared and convoluted relationship between the people of Sierra Leone and the British pursuit of diplomacy.

British Council, Freetown / Manser Practice

From the Project Architect:
At the end of the Civil War in Sierra Leone, the existing 1950s British Council building was an important but very run down social and cultural hub in the city of Freetown.

British Council, Freetown / Manser Practice

To bring the building back to life, The Manser Practice worked with local consultants, using materials that were available locally and construction techniques that were suitable for the low-skilled local workforce. Refurbishing the building involved stripping it back to its original design and then adding extensions to both rationalise the layout and help improve the natural ventilation that the building had relied on from its inception.

British Council, Freetown / Manser Practice

Our ability to work closely within the constraints of climate, skills, materials and political context from the outset allowed the project to be built in very difficult circumstances.

CLICK TO REVIEW LINKED STORY

New British High Commission / Kilburn Nightingale Architects
Designing an embassy or a consulate poses a myriad of challenges. Architects face a task to resist the temptation to design that which is wholly representative of the mother country without necessarily applying contextual measures. Questions ponder. ‘Home’ country or the host? Concepts; materi...

CLICK TO REVIEW LINKED STORY

British Council Building /Emma Vergette
As opposed to most Embassy and Embassy related compounds the British Council Building in Addis Ababa replaces the usually high solid walls with a rather porous design with open railings that maximise visibility of the building, a clear indication of the approachability and openness of the Coun...

- © British Council Freetown Sierra Leone_Manser Pr...
- © British Council Freetown Sierra Leone_Manser Pr...
- © British Council Freetown Sierra Leone_Manser Pr...
- © British Council Freetown Sierra Leone_Manser Pr...
- © British Council Freetown Sierra Leone_Manser Pr...
- © British Council Freetown Sierra Leone_Manser Pr...

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

If you want your own avatar and keep track of your discussions with the community, sign up to archiDATUM >>

SELECTED WORKS

- House 02 Hyde Park / Daffonchio & Associates Architects
- 19 Apr 2017
The house is set on a secluded, tranquil stand surrounded by established trees. The main house consists of 2 wings: the living wing and t...
- Lideta Mercato Market / Vilalta Architects
- 31 Jan 2017
The Lideta Mercato was supposed to be a shopping mall like many in the city of Addis Ababa. After analyzing the existing ones we realized...
- Residence Andalous / Serge Santelli and Cabinet Gerau
- 17 Apr 2016
Traditional Tunisian domestic architecture consists of one- or two-level houses arranged around courtyards or patios. To achieve a contem...

CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN DIRECTORY

- LAP Marina Residence / 5+1AA Alfonso Femia Gianluca Peluffo + Peia Associati
- 12 Jan 2018
The main target regarding the LAP residential complex is not only to provide a luxury compound of modern villas with all the full residen...
- Datum Antique: Pancho Guedes' Saipal Bakery
- 10 Sep 2015
Every so often architecture smacks you right in the face and forces you to remember why it is exactly that buildings touch us so deeply. ...
- New British High Commission / Kilburn Nightingale Architects
- 18 May 2015
Designing an embassy or a consulate poses a myriad of challenges. Architects face a task to resist the temptation to design that which is...