Houston, Texas (19 May 2010) – Groundbreaking was held on Friday, 14 May 2010, for the Accra Kempinski Hotel, a new five-star hotel which will be the centerpiece of the Gold Coast City, a mixed-use development being planned in the heart of Accra, Ghana.  Designed by the Houston office of PageSoutherlandPage, the 270-room hotel will include two presidential suites and 17 luxury suites.

The expansive conference center will include meeting rooms with state-of-the-art audio-visual technology, a fully-equipped business center, a business lounge and support spaces. The multi-function ballroom will accommodate more than 600 seated guests and will be configurable with moveable walls into three large individual meeting rooms. Other amenities include a Resense Spa, salon, health club, swimming pools and tennis courts, three specialty restaurants and underground parking for 400 cars.

The building design was based on the Compound houses of Ghana and other western African countries that were traditionally used by kings and tribal chiefs. The organizing element of the hotel is the central courtyard with shaded seating areas, lawn, and a performance pavilion offering stunning views.

The hotel campus will also include onsite water treatment and stand-by generators to provide three days of water and power to the hotel.

PageSoutherlandPage provided planning, programming, architecture and MEP engineering for the 342,000-square-foot hotel, which is expected to open in January 2012. Dallas, Texas-based Looney & Associates provided interior design services for the hotel, which is being constructed by Zakhem International Construction Ltd. PageSoutherlandPage also developed the master plan for the 35-acre Gold Coast City, which will include residential apartments, retail space, an exhibition center, offices and government buildings, in addition to the Accra Kempinski Hotel.

PageSoutherlandPage team members include: John Cryer III, AIA; Arturo Chavez, AIA; Robert Mease, AIA; Lewis T. May, FASLA; John Clegg, AIA; Ron Gilbert, AIA; Tomas Barrera; Roberto Matsumura; Jeff Mechlem; Ken Bailey; Michael Partney; Cyril Unger; Darrell Widner, PE;  Luis Reyes, PE;  Frank Taylor and Omi Hernandez.

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