Project Description

Sankofa Square, once envisioned as a lively gathering place, has become an overlooked urban heat island that people pass through rather than enjoy. Our design reimagines this underused space as a healing landscape, restoring balance between nature and city life while giving the square new life.

We introduce an tree canopy, plantings, and landscape mounds that provide shade, cooling, noise buffering, sensory experiences. This renewed connection to nature is paired with inclusive spaces for play, leisure, and gathering. An elevated walkway links the surrounding busy buildings to the square, drawing people off one of the city’s busiest intersections into the sky, offering shade, and sheltered indoor areas that connect to the open square.

An amphitheatre with tiered seating adds height, dimension, and space for a variety of users, from tourists to students to office workers. Flexible areas remain for pop-up events, including a stage and space for public art installations, to honour the square’s history and name. Murals enhance the currently empty road surface, anchoring local culture through colour and art.

Thoughtful materiality, diverse seating, and dedicated spaces for cafés, food trucks, and recreation ensure the square becomes a multi-season destination—a place where people can be alone, with others, connect with nature, and reflect. This is not just a redesign but an intentional act of care, transforming a neglected square into a place to slow down, connect, and heal.