Backyard Community Club: A prototype for civic space, material innovation in Accra

In a city where public recreational investment remains limited and green space is rapidly disappearing, the Backyard Community Club in Accra proposes a renewed vision of civic life. Conceived by DeRoche Projects, the intervention centers on a clay tennis court and introduces Ghana’s first precast rammed earth construction system – an innovation that reinterprets ancestral building intelligence for contemporary urban conditions. Positioned within the dense neighbourhood of Osu, the Backyard operates simultaneously as a community landmark and a replicable model for socially and environmentally responsive architecture.

More than a sports facility, the project creates a shared environment where youth training, ecological stewardship, and everyday gathering coexist. By linking sport with cultivation, skill-building, and communal rituals, it redefines how a public space can shape social relationships, nurture local knowledge, and support sustainable forms of living.

ARCHITECTURE AND SPATIAL EXPERIENCE

The clay tennis court is built to international standards, offering a professional-grade surface for young athletes under eighteen. Its spatial sequence is anchored by a shaded floating bench that accommodates players and spectators, allowing moments of rest, observation, and review. Supporting elements include changing rooms, shaded seating, showers, outdoor preparation counters, and a barbecue area are integrated discreetly, forming a cohesive micro-campus rather than a series of isolated utilities.

Natural light and cross-ventilation guide the architectural language. Showers open to planted niches that bring the landscape directly into daily rituals, while the overall detailing emphasizes material clarity and understated elegance.

Encasing the site is a four-meter-high envelope of precast rammed earth panels. Locally fabricated and rhythmically arranged, these sculptural elements provide privacy without detachment, creating porous boundaries that filter light, reduce crosswinds, and cast shifting shadows across the court. Their earthy texture and monolithic presence lend the project both durability and a grounded aesthetic identity.

A GARDEN THAT TRAINS THE BODY AND THE LAND

Surrounding the court is a 230-square-meter sustenance garden composed of more than twenty species of edible and medicinal plants, chosen for their nutritional and restorative qualities. Guava, banana, coconut, peppermint, lemongrass, soursop, and blue pea flower form a living pharmacy that supports athletic recovery and daily nourishment.

Here, gardening becomes part of the training cycle. Young athletes learn to cultivate, harvest, and prepare ingredients for juices, snacks, and shared meals, turning the acts of tending and playing into intertwined practices. Beyond training hours, the Backyard shifts into a communal venue for exercise, produce exchange, outdoor screenings, and neighbourhood gatherings. By embedding cultivation into recreational space, the project models a form of public life anchored in self-reliance, responsibility, and ecological awareness.

SUSTAINABILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY

Sustainability is embedded into the project’s material choices and operational systems. Rammed earth construction dramatically reduces embodied carbon while providing thermal mass and breathability. A borehole system and redirected stormwater runoff irrigate both the clay court and the landscape, minimizing dependence on municipal water and supporting drought-tolerant planting.

Ancillary structures operate without air-conditioning or mechanical extraction. Instead, they rely on the stack effect, natural daylight, and passive cooling strategies calibrated to Accra’s climate. An earth slurry finish further replaces cementitious renders, lowering environmental impact and ensuring that the building envelope remains breathable and enduring.

GHANA’S FIRST PRECAST RAMMED EARTH SYSTEM

The Backyard Community Club marks a pivotal moment in Ghana’s architectural landscape. Traditional rammed earth techniques, while rich in cultural lineage, are often constrained by slow construction timelines, labor intensity, and weather dependence. DeRoche Projects’ precast rammed earth system responds to these limitations by shifting production off-site, enabling rigorous quality control, parallel workstreams, and precise structural tolerances.

This modular approach accommodates Ghanaian transport logistics, labor realities, and climatic conditions. It delivers a construction method that is faster, cleaner, and substantially lower in embodied carbon than conventional concrete systems. More importantly, it offers a framework for scaling sustainable building practices across community, commercial, and educational infrastructures.

By applying precast rammed earth modules at this architectural scale for the first time in the country, the project establishes a forward-looking blueprint for development, one that aligns material innovation with cultural continuity and environmental stewardship.

TOWARD A NEW CIVIC PARADIGM

The Backyard Community Club redefines what a neighborhood sports facility can be. It merges athletic training with ecological education, embeds sustainability into construction and daily rituals, and elevates a community plot into a space of civic dignity. Its architectural prototype demonstrates how design can nurture youth empowerment, foster collective well-being, and inspire future urban development grounded in material honesty, cultural identity, and regenerative thinking.

As Accra continues to grapple with questions of public space, environmental resilience, and inclusive development, the Backyard stands as both a local achievement and a globally relevant model, an example of how thoughtful design can activate small sites for large social impact.

Project Credit

Location: Accra, Ghana
Completion: November 2025
Architect: Deroche Projects / @derocheprojects
Photography: Julien Lanoo

More Photos