We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ohene Twum a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Ohene thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
For years that I had been living abroad in the United States, a growing passion within me began to bubble, addressing the issues of maternity care in Ghana. As a brother to two incredible and socially-aware sisters (Addobea and Natalie), this thought may partially have been a byproduct of my familial exposure but stemmed more from the view that as architects, our clients are also those yet to be born.
In all of Ghana’s five northern regions, there was no dialysis center and the maternal mortality as well as infant mortality rates were alarming. With the rise in illegal mining, an even graver concern was brought to the fore: the increase in kidney failure, underscoring the critical need for health centers that addressed both immediate and long-term threats to life.
Then came the call from the Member of Parliament for Yagaba-Kubori, seeking improved healthcare infrastructure for the area. For years, I had been reading about the maternity health situation in Ghana and conceptualizing an architectural solution to the matter. This much-needed project was the opportunity to design a solution to address the aforementioned key issues. The result was the Savannah Dialysis and Maternity Hospital design in Tamale—a project that profoundly impacted me and taught me that innovation can be drawn from ancestral wisdom.
During the design stage, my team and I travelled through Tamale, meeting with locals and gathering stories. I had the rare honor of sitting at the feet of a 125-year-old woman, listening to her reflections. Her words were the design brief I never knew I needed. They helped translate the methods of old for the issues of today, centered on the core aim to improve maternity care provision. It was a testament to how architecture can and does heal. It shattered the perspective that the past has nothing to teach us and that progress (in this case, excellent architecture) needs to look Western. It enhanced my ability to integrate sustainability into the design using simple strategies like orienting the building to maximize wind flows, using permeable brick walls to cool interiors, and a courtyard to create spaces of pause and reflection.
The hospital was designed to hold 35 beds with an apartment for travelling doctors and spaces for teaching and learning. The aspect of communal engagement and sustainable living is exemplified through the central courtyard and permeable brick walls that help cool the interior space. With space for delivery, dialysis, and a well-resourced outpatient department, the focus was to ensure patients left healthier than they came.
For this hospital, the use of rammed earth was key. Through its integration into the design, I saw how this ancient material, which is cost-effective, sustainable, and profoundly beautiful, could be the answer to building in arid and semi-arid regions across Ghana and Africa.
The design for the Savannah Dialysis and Maternity Hospital project represented the true value of architecture. It was a reaffirmation of why I do what I do—to serve, to heal, to honour the past, and to dream forward.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I was born with an innate talent for art. It became commonplace for people to ask, How did you draw that or bring that to life? It was the echoes of these questions within me that made me realize there is a future only the creative and artistic can see and to deprive the world of creation-whether creation of space, literature, art, music, or technology, is a great injustice. Although a lot has happened in my journey to date, I trace the spark from the beginning. Our first family home that I remember was on Patrice Lumumba Road, aptly named after the great revolutionary and symbolic foreshadowing of my enduring passion for Africa. I was raised in a family of five that values music. From dancing to afrobeats in the foyer to appreciating the classics in a narrow, glass-lit hallway, my earliest memories are bathed in the sounds of Kenny G, E.T. Mensah, and Osibisa, reverberating through the house as sunlight streamed through a glass block wall. This taught me that architects not only create spaces but also craft memories. That was my first true taste of architecture.
With my mother being an exceptional psychologist and an intuitive presence in my life, the sense of reflection, deep thought and insight was imbued in me from a young age. I questioned why buildings were built the way they were and whether they served the people they were meant for. I became obsessed with the idea that if a space could serve two or more purposes, it had the potential to be truly great.
I later attended the renowned Savannah College of Art and Design on a full scholarship to study architecture, with minors in preservation design, business, and advertising- this was the opportunity of a lifetime and a pivotal moment in my development. SCAD became my place of discovery. I learned that great architecture doesn’t have to sacrifice wonder in the pursuit of stability. That very idea became the foundation of my company’s slogan: ‘Architecture That Inspires’.
I had spent years getting broad experience in home renovation, the business of real estate and even cultural heritage tourism. One of the defining moments of my journey was working with Visit Mobile under the leadership of the remarkable President/ CEO, David Clark. The opportunity to develop significant cultural heritage tourism initiatives in Africatown, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was one that deeply shaped me. That experience taught me that the greatest gift architects can offer isn’t just in the buildings we erect, but in the care and sensitivity behind our design choices. Our work can guide not only physical development but governance, healing, and human connection.
As much as the Earth spins on its own axis, I also believe it spins on the sense of wonder within each of us. Architecture, to me, is a form of action, one that keeps the world spinning. An action that marks the convergence of worlds: feeling and form, nature and nurture, heritage and innovation.
To date, my path has culminated in over 10 international awards such as the Architecture MasterPrize, the International Design Awards, London International Creative Competition, Golden Trezzini and more. Along this journey, I’ve had the honor of designing homes, hospitals, restaurants, pavilions, pedestrian bridges, and other meaningful spaces. With great gratitude and humility for such recognition, it is not lost on me that “whoever wants to be great must first be a servant” (to quote the Bible). In the same vein, to be a great architect, one must serve the community, the ecology, and every individual who will encounter the space, whether intentionally or by chance.
Today, a lot is on the way, from homes in Aburi, to healthcare projects in the Northern region and a development in Pokuase (all in Ghana)- it’s fair to say I am living my dream.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Yes, and it can be summarized through the phrase- 11.9 million square miles. For those who do not know, that is the landmass of Africa. A continent where life began that has experienced both unimaginable glory, and deep tragedy. My mission is to use architecture as a force to tilt the scales of African history towards one characterized by renewed greatness.
Through my work, I want to reflect the richness of our cultures, the diversity of our traditions, and the brilliance of our sensibilities in design. I want to create architecture that feels deeply African, not solely through motif or aesthetic, but as a living, breathing language that speaks of resilience, beauty, wisdom, and community.
Architecture, to me, is not just about buildings; it’s about building futures. It’s my aim to inspire a legion of African and global architects and designers who will be proud of their culture, wherever they may be from. Seeing heritage not as a limitation but as a compass to encourage them to design a future that works better, for more people, and one that delights in caring, inclusive architecture.
I aim to promote sustainability not only in architecture but in life. In choosing the career of architecture, I was not only giving a vote to the future I desired, but I was redefining the problems of today as the design opportunities of tomorrow. It is this mentality of optimism and purpose that I want to imbue in this generation and those to come.
And, I believe great architecture should not be a luxury reserved for the rich. As architects, it is our duty to give all people, regardless of their status, a taste of great space-making. This is because of my belief that dignity can live in the smallest home, true beauty can reside in the most modest material and comprehensive transformation can begin with a single thoughtful design.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
As a creative, it’s the fact that a grim future is no longer inevitable and a hopeful one is no longer out of reach. As creatives, we have the power to transform the way the future works and the people who live in that period.
There is no expiry date on art. From making a building to making films or visual art, there is no expiration date on impact. The fact is that Art remains long after its maker. It echoes possibilities, provokes thought, and shifts culture. It is this lasting nature that makes me, as a creative, keenly aware of my impact and legacy. In a transient world, this awareness is crucial.
Being a creative, I see myself as an architect of new realities. The way I think allows me to be a complex problem solver and redefine the future. I see intersections where others may see dead ends and endeavour to hold space for nuance in a world often characterised by absolutes.
There also lies in creativity a greater reward in the transformation it brings to me. Simply put, creativity transforms the creator. It causes me to stay in tune with the world around me and still not lose touch with the one I seek to create. It keeps my fire burning to change the world. A fire that fuels the urge to do, to educate, to uplift, to serve something greater than myself. I consider creativity as the flame that awakens consciousness and keeps the soul of humanity from going dim.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://architizer.com/firms/ohene-twum-architecture/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ohenetwum_/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ohene-twumarchitecture88/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@OheneTwumArch
Image Credits
Ohene Twum Architecture