Herald College

Tengen: The Pantheon Office was commissioned by a retired CEO of one of West Africa’s largest banks as a new kind of business address. He wanted a place where financial and economic discussions could take place, where new businesses could emerge and where visiting executives could meet, exchange ideas and make deals. The chosen site was an old colonial house set within a landscaped compound. ECAD’s challenge was to convert it into a modern, efficient office while preserving the architectural character that made the original building distinctive. The aim was not to erase its history, but to give it a new role as an economic and business hub. The refurbishment retains important parts of the existing site, including the swimming pool and a significant artwork on the front façade. The identity of the original artist remains unknown, but the decision to preserve the work means that it continues to form part of the building’s public face. This small mystery gives the project a further connection to the history of the house. Steel, bronze, timber and green stone bring a new material richness to the office, balancing the retained colonial fabric with a more contemporary expression. Beyond the building itself, a visually permeable fence and generous landscaping make the site feel connected to its surroundings. Tengen Office is significant because it shows how a historic property can be adapted without losing its spirit. It is at once a restored colonial house and a contemporary setting for business, designed to support the conversations and relationships through which new economic activity can grow.

Location

Ikoyi, Lagos

Typology

Commercial

A contemporary learning environment centered on a dramatic arched entrance, flexible studios, and shaded landscape spaces for collaboration. The Asharami School of Architecture is conceived as a contemporary academic landmark that reflects creativity, openness, innovation, and the evolving identity of architectural education. The building combines expansive glazed façades with sculptural geometric forms and a dramatic central entrance that creates a strong sense of arrival. Its architectural language is modern and expressive, using glass, light-toned stone, warm textured materials, and bold structural forms to establish a distinctive institutional identity. Designed for a tropical environment, the school incorporates shaded entrances, landscaped courtyards, pedestrian walkways, palm-lined approaches, generous overhangs, and carefully planned outdoor spaces. These elements help create a comfortable relationship between the building and its surrounding landscape while encouraging interaction between students, staff, and visitors. The internal programme is organised around flexible learning and collaborative spaces. Facilities include architectural design studios, lecture rooms, classrooms, exhibition and critique spaces, digital fabrication laboratories, workshops, faculty offices, administrative spaces, a library and resource centre, computer laboratories, seminar rooms, student lounges, and shared collaborative areas. Large areas of glazing bring natural light into the building and visually connect the interior learning spaces with landscaped exterior areas. The central circulation and courtyard spaces serve as social and academic gathering points, reinforcing the idea of architecture as a collaborative discipline. Overall, the project seeks to balance visual transparency, climatic responsiveness, functionality, institutional presence, sustainability, and a forward-looking architectural identity. The Asharami School of Architecture is envisioned not only as a place for learning architecture, but also as a building that demonstrates architectural ideas through its form, materiality, spaces, and relationship with the environment.

Location

Lekki, Lagos

Typology

Educational

L5 is conceived as a refined waterfront residential development that brings together sculptural architecture, expansive terraces, planted balconies, and direct connections to the marina. Positioned as a contemporary lifestyle destination, the project creates a layered waterside silhouette that responds to both the skyline and the calm openness of the water. The building is defined by its stepped massing, generous private outdoor spaces, and softened horizontal lines, which give the architecture a sense of movement and elegance. Large glazed openings allow natural light to flood the interiors while framing panoramic views of the waterfront, marina, and surrounding city beyond. The repetition of terraces and balcony gardens strengthens the building’s identity and gives each residence a more open, relaxed relationship with the outdoors. At ground level, L5 establishes a premium arrival experience through landscaped promenades, a carefully designed entrance sequence, and a strong visual connection to the water’s edge. The marina frontage, planted public realm, and outdoor leisure spaces help create an atmosphere that feels both exclusive and welcoming. The planning concept is centred around comfort, privacy, and elevated residential living. Homes are envisioned with spacious living areas, open layouts, broad terraces, and carefully considered views, while shared amenities and circulation spaces are arranged to support convenience, lifestyle, and community. Overall, L5 is designed as a contemporary waterfront address that combines luxury living with openness, greenery, and a strong sense of place. Through its layered terraces, planted edges, and direct relationship with the marina, the project presents a distinctive vision of refined living on the waterfront.

Location

Eko Atlantic, Lagos

Typology

Residential

The Coronation Bank Abuja was commissioned as the bank’s growing client base required a more substantial presence in the city. Moving beyond its earlier, smaller branch, Coronation needed a building that could express its position as a specialist private bank while providing an appropriate setting for high-net-worth clients and the services offered to them. The brief called for something stylish, distinctive and timeless. ECAD responded with a building conceived as an architectural arrival from Lagos into Abuja. Rather than relying on a conventional curtain-wall office façade, the design uses stone cladding and fair-faced concrete to create a more enduring and formal expression. The building is raised on pilotis, with V-shaped columns forming a colonnade at street level. This sequence draws visitors underneath the upper volume, giving the approach both a sense of ceremony and a clear relationship to the city. At night, the building is intended to read as a lantern, becoming a beacon and landmark within its Abuja setting. The project’s main challenges lay in the site. Changes to levels, basement parking requirements and encroachments required the design to be repeatedly tested and adjusted. Resolving these conditions allowed the building to sit purposefully within its constrained environment. The choice of stone and fair-faced concrete was fundamental. These natural materials create a timeless, almost Romanesque quality that supports Coronation’s aspiration for an international yet grounded identity. A roof garden further extends the building’s role, providing a place for terrace events and conversations around wealth enhancement. Coronation Head Office Abuja is significant because it uses architecture as part of the bank’s service offer. The building is intended not simply as an office or outlet, but as an environment that makes clients feel respected and assured, while giving a growing institution a distinctive and enduring address in the capital.

Location

Abuja, FCT

Typology

Commercial