Location: Manko, Accra–Cape Coast Road, Ghana
Architect: Frank Frimpong Opoku, ArcReformers
Project Type: Waterfront Housing (Residential)
Year: 2025
Concept and Inspiration
The choice of an A-frame style was deliberate: its sharply sloped roof deflects the heavy rains and strong winds characteristic of Ghana’s coastal climate. Beyond functionality, this form also symbolizes refuge: an intimate, triangular embrace that grounds residents in nature. Expansive glass openings invite natural light deep into the interiors, fostering cross-ventilation and framing uninterrupted views of the waterfront. Elevated foundations ensure resilience against flooding, while materials and landscaping promote ecological sensitivity, merging architecture with the rhythms of the landscape.
Location and Community
The development draws on the calm and welcoming spirit of Manko’s people. The community’s ethos of peace and hospitality influenced the design’s openness, balconies, terraces, and transparent façades extend the home outward, celebrating human connection and coastal living.
Spatial Experience
A flowing ground floor plan welcomes residents into an open living and dining area that doubles as the heart of the home. The absence of unnecessary partitions ensures visual continuity and a sense of togetherness, while large glazed walls frame uninterrupted views of the waterfront. The open kitchen sits adjacent, creating a space for culinary performance that integrates seamlessly with daily life and social gatherings.
Bedrooms are conceived as sanctuaries of retreat, balancing privacy with a connection to the outdoors. One is designed en suite, offering a heightened sense of comfort and exclusivity, while the other connects to a shared washroom accessible to guests. This dual arrangement supports both intimate living and the spirit of hospitality, a cultural value embedded in the project’s design.
Outdoor extensions blur the line between interior and exterior. A terrace and balcony project outward, offering residents immersive encounters with the surrounding environment. These spaces encourage evening conversations under the sky, morning reflections with the sound of waves, and a lifestyle that embraces natural rhythms rather than withdrawing from them.
The overall spatial choreography fosters adaptability and connection. Each area from communal core to private retreat, from elevated perch to outdoor platform, works together to create a layered living experience. The architecture prioritizes openness, fluid movement, and natural dialogue, embodying a design language that is both contemporary and deeply responsive to the coastal context.
The house accommodates both private and social needs with two bedrooms: one en-suite and another supported by a shared washroom. Elevated terraces and a first-floor sitting area act as vantage points for contemplation, blurring the boundary between shelter and seascape.
Looking Ahead: The Future of Waterfront Housing
The A-Frame Paradise is not only about present comfort but also about future resilience. Coastal homes, particularly in vulnerable regions, must adapt. Architects envision elevated or amphibious designs, and even floating typologies, to cope with rising sea levels. Water-positive systems, rainwater harvesting, greywater recycling, and natural filtration, are fast becoming essential. More than resilience, these strategies cultivate symbiosis with fragile ecosystems. Here, design evolves as a mediator between human habitation and coastal ecology.
About the Architect
