Riviera Mankoadze

Gentle Works led the initial design of a 5.5-acre coastal community in Mankoadze, Ghana, situated between the Gulf of Guinea and Mount Manko. Developed for a Ghanaian-American client returning to invest in his family’s homeland, the project reimagines the conventional resort as a walkable coastal neighborhood rooted in the landscape, culture, and craft traditions of the region. The proposed community brings together a mix of homes for long-term residents and short-term visitors around a collection of shared amenities, including a scenic restaurant and bar, cascading waterfall pool, cabanas, and gathering spaces. Automobiles are limited to the site’s entrance, allowing the community to unfold on foot through a network of paths and boardwalks. A natural valley becomes a rain garden, creating a gentle threshold between the residential neighborhood and the communal heart of the development while managing the site’s seasonal waters. Throughout the project, the architecture is conceived as a recomposition of the place itself. Ghanaian craft traditions shape the architectural language through handmade tile, concrete breeze block, locally woven textiles, and rammed earth walls formed from the site’s own soil, allowing the buildings to emerge from the same material and cultural landscape that surrounds them. The result is a community that celebrates the enduring relationship between land, craft, and architecture while remaining unmistakably rooted in the coast of Ghana.