ELLEN SIRLEAF PRESIDENTIAL CENTER
A Campus for Women Empowerment and Development
Status: Current
Location: Monrovia, Liberia
Team: Mariam Issoufou, Aaron Nkhoma, Barira Boureima, Aissata Hamidou, Assoumana Attahirou, Fatima Adam, Tigran Kostandyan.
The Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center is, by definition, unprecedented. Never before has a woman president founded, commissioned, and seen built a presidential centre and library in her own name. That the client is also the first democratically elected female head of state on the African continent, and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, means the architecture carries an extraordinary weight of expectation: it must honour a singular life of public service while creating a genuinely open, forward-looking institution for the women and girls who will come after.
The question we had to answer was not simply how to make a beautiful building. It was how to make a building that captures humility and greatness at the same time, which was accomplished by prioritizing cultural authenticity and embodying a sense of community.
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The project’s design takes its inspiration from Liberia's own architectural heritage: the traditional palava hut, whose tall, exaggerated pitched roof was a direct response to Liberia's intense tropical rainfalls, managing water and heat through form alone. Grouped together as they were in rural settings, these huts embodied community and a sense of gathering. The EJS Center reinterprets this cluster logic at civic scale: a collection of structures that together form a presidential archive, conference rooms, exhibition areas, a library, workshop spaces, and a café - all rooted in the local climate and cultural landscape they inhabit. Local materials are central: raw earth bricks, fired clay bricks, rubber wood, and woven palm leaves speak directly to Liberian craft traditions.
To remain hyperlocal for the construction of the project, the studio invited local manufacturers and craftspeople from the capital city of Monrovia and around to build architectural components that utilize locally sourced materials. The result will be a state-of-the-art civic complex that at once instills pride in the country’s cultural history and functions as a contemporary symbol for a progressive national future.
The EJS Center’s series of exhibition rooms, designed by renowned South African architect Sumayya Vally, are complemented by community amenities that accommodate conferences and workshops, and provide access to a library and learning center. The café overlooking the ocean opens onto a large plaza suited to functions and community celebrations. The design prioritizes natural light over artificial illumination through the inclusion of abundant skylights and windows, helping to mitigate Monrovia’s frequent electricity shortages. Opportunities for natural ventilation keep the interiors cooler during the hotter months and reduce reliance on artificial cooling, with solar panels supplying much of the Center’s energy.
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Lead Architect
Mariam Issoufou ArchitectsLocal Architect
Karen Richards BarnesScenography, pavilions, and exhibition architect
Sumayya VallyModel Maker
Boyd&Ogier -
