DeRoche Projects has broken ground on the Backyard Community Garden, the second phase of the Backyard Urban Campus located in the Osu district of Accra, Ghana. Drawing inspiration from traditional West African public space usage, this new project reimagines landscape not as a decorative element, but as a functional civic infrastructure that serves as a hub for gathering, agriculture, play, and social interaction.
Design Inspired by the Traditional West African Urban Fabric
Instead of relying on an introspective, centralized closed campus model, the project features a master plan that disperses buildings, landscape, and public spaces throughout the neighborhood. Borrowed from agricultural planning systems across West Africa, a grid logic forms the project's infrastructure, designed to adapt as the vegetation grows and community needs evolve.
The landscape design replaces aesthetic lawns with plants used in local cuisine and traditional medicine. Produce grown on-site is integrated directly into the café menu, while shaded areas, cast-in-place seating, Oware game boards, and a six-meter water feature offer visitors a multi-faceted experience.
Architectural and Landscape Balance
Three small structures—a dispersed café pavilion, an auxiliary building, and a water feature—play a secondary role, receding behind the landscape. The café’s expansive veranda, in particular, reflects the region's open-air room culture of shared living spaces. This flexible threshold space is designed to host a wide range of activities, from café seating and workshops to yoga sessions and community gatherings.
Industry Implications and Urban Public Space Approach
Urban agriculture-focused projects of this kind reflect a growing global trend toward public space designs that move away from imported park models and instead place local ecology and community needs at the center. For designers and urban planners, positioning landscape not merely as visual filler, but as an economic and social production tool, offers an inspiring model for sustainable urban regeneration projects.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the Backyard Community Garden integrate the café with agriculture?
Medicinal and culinary plants grown on-site are supplied directly to the local café's seasonal menu, allowing the landscape to function as a living food and production infrastructure rather than just a decorative feature.
How does the project's architectural structure provide flexibility in public space usage?
The dispersed buildings are kept compact so as not to overshadow the landscape. Notably, the café pavilion's expansive veranda is designed with an open-room concept, accommodating multi-purpose uses such as workshops, yoga, and community gatherings.
*This news article was prepared based on data published by Designboom.
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