Enter the black-painted building and you will find an unexpectedly warm world of sandy clay walls, wood-carved furniture and woven lamps, where beaded metal curtains and rows of arches frame dining platforms and comfortable seating corners. Tempting fabrics cover the pillows, while perforated blocks frame the restaurant countertop and seating areas, reminiscent of modernist architecture screens on the African continent. It is recognizable by the dirty office building of the 1960s that architects Freehaus and interior designer Tola Ojuolape faced when they began the project to create what aspires to be “the most welcoming cultural space in London”. Airy and green… the bar terrace. Photo: Taran Wilkhu “We wanted it to be attractive to the widest possible audience,” said architect Jonathan Hagos, co-founder of Freehaus. “It’s not the kind of place you need to do business to be there, but an open, welcoming, accessible place for anyone interested in Africa – whether African or not. The new center has a tough act to follow. Originally founded in 1964 and opened by Kenneth Kaunda, then newly elected leader of independent Zambia, the Africa Center has become a vital hub for political and cultural activity in the diaspora. Home to a busy bar, restaurant and music venue, it was a place where the independence movements were fueled and anti-apartheid struggles were discussed, and where Nelson Mandela’s public statement was famously circulated during his imprisonment on Robben Island. Archbishop Desmond Tutu would meet Thabo Mbeki here, while the Soul II Soul sound system presided over wild nights in the basement, and artists such as Sonia Boyce and Lubaina Himid exhibited their magnificent paintings upstairs. In the 2000s, the center went through more difficult times and the lease on the Covent Garden building was sold in 2013, despite strong opposition from the community. Proceeds from the sale, along with Council 1.6 million from the Arts Council England, were used to acquire the small office complex in Southwark – in a prime location, just a 10-minute walk from Tate Modern. It was a smart move, using the proceeds from Covent Garden’s retention to fund his business, with an additional 1, 1.6m from the mayor of London’s Good Growth fund for the capital project. In the hands of Freehaus, the building has been cleverly stripped and carved, with a series of low-cost interventions that completely transform the space and make the limited 2, 2.6 million construction budget go a long way. The point was to be unquestionably African – but we wanted to avoid generalizations sweeping the continent The ground floor has been extended to the rear, with a series of glass doors that fully fold, connecting the restaurant with a moving alley with rail arches, full of cafes, bars and a theater, where the center also has a pair of accommodation booths. . It’s the perfect venue for Tatale’s first permanent home, a former superclub run by Akwasi Brenya-Mensa, who has taken the new restaurant as a tribute to Ghana’s chop bars – “a talk hub literally around food Overlooking the bar terrace, the stage is set for animated conversations that will pour into the alley, forming the soul center of what we hope will become a new African Quarter. “An embassy of optimism”… the interior of the center. Photo: Taran Wilkhu Introducing a sense of openness to the inhospitable office block was the key, and the architects opened a large entrance to the new level at the front of the building, framed by a durable black steel dome supporting the terrace from above – “celebrating users as part of it”. facade “, as Hagos says, in the style of the nearby Young Vic Theater. A new staircase leads to the first-floor bar, next to an impressive mural by the late Mozambican artist and poet Malangatana Ngwenya, which was painstakingly removed from the center’s former home, restored and restored here. It jumps out of a deep indigo-colored wall, rendered with the same embossed plaster clay, echoing the rich shades of traditional West African paints. “The point was to be unquestionably African,” says Hagos, “but we wanted to avoid generalizations sweeping the continent and superficial stereotypes.” My family is from Eritrea, which has an aesthetic that is very much up to date with its Italian colonial past – completely different from the perspective of Nigeria or Ghana. “We did not want to have a very specific view of what Africa looks like, but to celebrate our commonalities and show what an embassy could be for a continent in the 21st century.” Instead of resorting to well-pressed visual tropes, the designers found a number of common themes, including pronounced thresholds, tactile surfaces, light quality, and reuse and appropriation. Look closely and you will notice that the earthy performance on the ground floor intensifies in color as it rises inside the building, gradually from sandy shades, through pink shades, to a rich terracotta as it rises the levels, its texture becomes rougher as it rises. Moments of transition are celebrated, as in the glossy green terrazzo, with pink stones, which marks a step in the restaurant, as well as handmade items such as thick furniture, made by Studio Propolis designers from Kenya and the United Kingdom. The performance changes gently as the levels rise. Photo: Taran Wilkhu Even some of the ragged scars have been retained from where the building was sliced, leaving broken areas of chipped concrete and exposed steel reinforcement over areas of new heat-efficient glass. “We wanted to recognize that with the subsequent installation of this rather miserable 1960s building, the Africa Center is already making a big gesture,” says Hagos. “We tried to include as many passive environmental measures as possible, such as using the staircase as a thermal chimney for natural ventilation, but preserving the building” – and avoiding the act of demolition for coal – “is something that should be really proud of. ” A second staircase lined with works of art leads to the gallery on the third floor, one of the most evocative areas of the building, dipped in the same indigo as the two stairs, at the behest of Ojuolape. Faced with a lack of space on the walls, the architects were inspired by Sir John Soane’s museum and designed a clever panel system that folds down the walls to provide more hanging space, creating corners like a pavilion for the artwork. The bold color scheme may sound overwhelming, but it provides the perfect backdrop for the opening exhibition of dazzling paintings by Tanzanian artist Sungi Mlengeya, whose ballet black figures glow from their bright white canvases, dynamically occupying free space with joyful limbs. (and anticipating perhaps some of the shapes that can be thrown at the bar below). A second phase of work, currently seeking funding, will see the third and fourth floors being converted into educational space, digitally connected to classrooms in Africa and an incubator for afro-centric businesses, along with designs for a screen inspired by mashrabiya to cover the facade of the building. Plans for illuminated letters on the terrace, which overlooks the railway to announce the presence of the center, were unfortunately put forward by local designers, but all indications are that the energy emerging from this self-proclaimed “embassy of optimism” will resonate everywhere, regardless . Africa Center is located at 66 Great Suffolk Street, Southwark, south London.
