Adjaye Associates unveils design for children’s cancer centre in Ghana

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The campus will be West Africa's first dedicated children's cancer research centre

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Adjaye Associates has unveiled its designs for a research centre in Ghana which will be West Africa’s first institution dedicated entirely to the treated of childhood cancers.

The  225,000sq m International Children’s Cancer Research Centre (ICCRC) in Kyebi has been designed for the Wish4Life Foundation, a US nonprofit based in New York.

Set on the eastern slopes of the Atewa Range, the centre is envisioned as a “holistic sanctuary for healing, research, teaching, and community”.

It aims to increase survival rates from the region’s current approximation of 10% to levels approaching the 80% benchmark seen in the United States. 

Adjaye Associates said the project represents a new model for paediatric care rooted in local traditions, supported by global excellence, and built to be financially self sustaining.  

The firm’s design has been inspired by local beliefs that illness is a disrupotion of personal and communal harmony, with the centre to be rooted in biophilic design to integrate it into the surrounded forested landscape.

David Adjaye said: “I believe design can provide a critical inquiry into social responsibility and civic consciousness. I have always sought to work out the aesthetics of this inquiry in my work. At its best, architecture should contribute to a social change agenda.”

Buildings will be constructed using locally sourced materials including rammed earth, composite earth slabs, timber, and clay brickwork.

Pre-cast low-carbon concrete screens that shade clinical and research buildings reference Kente weaving patterns, embedding ancestral memory and cultural identity into the architecture. 

Passive cooling, site-specific orientation, and photovoltaic energy systems aim to ensure sustainability and resilience in the face of changing environmental conditions.

The ICCRC campus includes a children’s hospital, advanced research laboratories, a training institute for oncologists, staff and family residences, a chapel, and a dedicated family support centre.