A groundbreaking mixed-use community facility has opened in Accra, Ghana, featuring four-meter-high rammed-earth walls that enclose a central tennis court. The Backyard Community Club, designed by local architecture studio DeRoche Projects, represents what the firm calls a "new model for shared civic life" that serves as a platform for community engagement, mentorship, and recreational activities.
The innovative facility spans 230 square meters of carefully planned gardens and combines sports, social gathering spaces, and educational opportunities under one cohesive design. Studio founder Glenn DeRoche explained that the architecture intentionally blurs traditional boundaries between different activities. "The architecture is deliberately open-ended, where lines between sport, gathering, learning, and rest are blurred," DeRoche told reporters. "It's in the court, the shaded walkways, and lush vegetation where life emerges, shaped not by a fixed program but by the people who use it."
Visitors enter the facility through a street-facing entrance that opens onto a paved walkway designed to serve dual purposes as both circulation space and a flexible area for community activities. The sculptural rammed-earth walls rise dramatically to four meters in height, creating an impressive visual statement while serving practical functions. Adjacent to the main walkway, the facility features extensive garden plots containing more than 20 species of edible and medicinal plants, emphasizing the project's commitment to sustainability and community self-sufficiency.
The centerpiece tennis court is strategically positioned within the angular rammed-earth enclosure and designed with flexibility in mind to accommodate various community events beyond tennis matches. DeRoche Projects selected rammed earth as the primary construction material to celebrate local building traditions while minimizing the project's carbon footprint. The walls have been partially finished with clay and include built-in bench seating that provides shaded areas for spectators and community members.
According to the architecture studio, the Backyard Community Club represents Ghana's first project to utilize a precast rammed earth system, a innovative construction method that reimagines the ancient clay-based building technique for contemporary and scalable applications. Traditional rammed earth construction involves packing soil into temporary formwork and compressing it until it forms solid walls when the formwork is removed. While the material can be used in its raw form, this project employed cement stabilization, though the architects minimized cement content to just three percent of the total material mixture.
"Our approach embraces locally sourced materials rooted in tradition, while exploring innovative strategies to create a resilient and forward-looking built environment," DeRoche stated. He added that DeRoche Projects is advancing innovative methods of precasting rammed earth at scale, refining the material's structural and environmental potential while maintaining its tactile and vernacular characteristics.
The facility's ancillary spaces are housed in a low-profile block positioned at the rear of the site, containing essential amenities including changing rooms, shower facilities, and restroom facilities. This functional building is complemented by sunken seating areas at its front facade and an open-air courtyard positioned near the side entrance. Additional smaller structures throughout the site provide storage space to support the facility's diverse programming needs.
The project joins a growing movement of community-focused architecture that prioritizes local materials and sustainable construction methods. Photography of the completed facility was captured by renowned architectural photographer Julien Lanoo, documenting the successful integration of traditional building techniques with modern community needs in urban Ghana.
