Founder of the Danquah Institute (DI) and a member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) lawyer Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko has slammed critics of architect David Adjaye who has been subject of mudslinging over the last few years.
Mr Adjaye’s involvement in the designs of the Agenda 111 hospitals and other landmark projects like the National Cathedral has apparently angered some people in the country.
However, Gabby Otchere-Darko popularly referred to as Gabby pointed out that Adjaye’s company, Adjaye Associates is just one of reputable firms being used for the design of the hospitals contrary to the wicked rumours being spread by detractors.
According to him, David Adjaye, is Ghanaian and so is his firm with offices in London and New York.
He questioned why the negative focus on a man he described as one of the world’s most celebrated starchitects.
In a Facebook post, Gabby explained that Mr. Adjaye has not been engaged to design 101 or 111 hospitals and that he did such a good job at the only one he designed that it should give the state a bargain of ‘buy one, get one free.’
“He was legally contracted as lead architect to design one standard district hospital and his task was to do so at a record low price with significant use of local materials, to be environmentally friendly and to do all this at a high-quality standard. This is what we are paying for,” Gabby explained.
Background
The Government, Gabby disclosed, first procured the services of Hospital Infrastructure Group (HIG) Limited, owned by highly respected Kwabena Nyarko, former Vice President of Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA), to coordinate the single largest health infrastructure project ever commissioned in Ghana, the Agenda 111 project, working closely with the Ministry of Health.
According to him, HIG’s job is to let the hospitals be designed and built as much as possible by Ghanaians, using as much as possible local materials.
This, he added, is supposed be done at a cost far lower than what the state used to pay.
Gabby pointed out that HIG engaged the services of some key architects, engineers, surveyors, etc, to deliver on this important mandate.
“David Adjaye’s Adjaye Associates was just one of such reputable firms used. His specific design job was to come out with a standard design for a district hospital. He has delivered a world-class standard design and at $17 million per hospital. District hospital normally costs between $30-35 million. This is like “Buy 1 Get 1 Free!
“Sadly, we have chosen not to celebrate the fact that we are getting over 5 million people in 101 districts to be served with 101 hospitals at a price that would have provided about 50 hospitals serving 50% fewer. Sir David only designed one standard district hospital! His job is not to build them,” he reiterated.
Other firms
Gabby indicated that another firm, Sutherland & Sutherland Architects, designed the new Accra Psychiatric Hospital, which means that once done there finally will be a decent, modern, well-equipped, and friendly to visit the psychiatric hospital in the heart of the capital city.
He also disclosed Victor Randolph is another firm that did the standard specialist psychiatric hospital for the middle and northern belt meaning those in need of specialized mental care would not need to trek down to Accra anymore.
Another team of Ghanaian architects, he said, were tasked to design the standard regional hospital that will serve the six new regions and disclosed there is another eight Ghanaian consulting firms whose services have also been procured through PPA to supervise zonally the execution of all the 101 district hospitals across the country.
“So what has been the crime of Sir David? His design does not use the antiquated materials of cement block and mortar for the hospitals. It is interlocking earth bricks system, using local laterite from the respective regions.
“This has helped to bring down the cost. It also means, building with speed. He is using locally insulated roofing sheets. His design allows for natural ventilation. It shows how we can build better, cheaper and relying more on locally produced materials”, Gabby disclosed.
Other African countries, he said, will soon model their hospitals and schools from the designs, technology, materials and engineering that have gone into the Agenda 111 project.
According to him, Ghana is doing something that will set the standards for providing healthcare facilities for Africa and beyond and added, “For me, we have something to be proud of and let’s help it succeed. We may or may not celebrate the team making it happen, but let us not malign them. It can be demoralising.”
He disclosed that over 20 Ghanaian Architectural and Engineering Consulting firms and 300 Ghanaian built-industry professionals are participating in the delivery of Agenda 111.
