'Kente-patterned' Villagio Vistas, Accra, Ghana
The Villagio Vistas is a residential development in Accra, Ghana, consisting of 3 towers - the Azure tower, the Aqua tower and the Alto tower. Each of the towers is distinguished by a boldly patterned facade inspired by traditional Ghanaian Kente fabrics, and cantilevering upper floors. The developer of the Villagio Vistas project, and builder of the towers, is Trasacco Estates Development Company. Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM) were the architects and AKT II were the structural engineers on the project.
The yellow coloured Villagio Vistas Alto is currently the tallest building in Ghana at 30 storeys and an estimated height of 93 metres (about the length of a football field).The red coloured Villagio Azure is the second tallest building in Ghana at 17 storeys and an estimated height of 71 metres. The green coloured Villagio Aqua is the shortest of the three structures at 7 storeys. The project was completed in phases between 2011 to 2014, and was reported to cost an estimated £80 million.
According to AKT II, the structural engineers on the project, a particular challenge was achieving the 7.5 m cantilever from the 18th floor of the tallest building. The solution adopted was to strengthen the lowest floor sufficiently to support all those above it, simplifying temporary propping during construction.
Topping the 7-storey Aqua Tower and ongoing construction of the adjacent 17 storey Azure Tower (livinspaces.net)
Red Kente-patterned facade installation on the 17 storey Azure Tower (livinspaces.net)
Close-up of Red Kente-patterned facade on completed 17 storey Azure Tower showing facade installed underneath cantilever floor (livinspaces.net)
Ongoing construction of 30 storey Alto Tower, showing formwork in place for cantilever floor (livinspaces.net)
Ongoing construction of 30 storey Alto Tower adjacent to completed Azure and Aqua Towers (livinspaces.net)
Ongoing construction of 30 storey Alto Tower showing site signage (livinspaces.net)
Ongoing construction of 30 storey Alto Tower showing close-up of cantilever structure (livinspaces.net)
Side view of 30 storey Alto Tower during construction (livinspaces.net)
30 storey Alto Tower during construction (skyscrapercity.com)
Side view of completed 30 storey Alto Tower with Yellow Kente-patterned facade (trasaccogroup.com)
Close-up showing Yellow Kente-patterned facade installed underneath cantilever on completed 27 storey Alto Tower (ahmm.co.uk)
Aerial view of completed 30 storey Alto Tower - tallest building in Ghana (@ghanarecords on twitter)
Aerial view of completed Villagio Vistas showing iconic Kente-patterned facades on Aqua, Azure and Alto Towers (@ghanarecords on twitter)
