Curator and founder of Mbari Kola: The Arts Society, Ugoma Chinelo Ebilah, has transformed a 1960s two-storey house with views of the Lagos Lagoon into a home for her new vision – a thriving cultural club for the Nigerian capital.
The property, originally built by Italian construction company G Cappa, featured a patio that encouraged an indoor-outdoor living style which was common at the time. She enlisted the help of architect Kelechi Odu to realise the project. ‘Ugoma wanted to create an oasis of art, culture, and luxury within the bustle of Lagos,’ he explains.
Step inside cultural club Mbari Kola: The Arts Society
‘The house has been renovated, and we decided to interfere with the structure as little as possible,’ Ebilah explains. ‘We extended out to the rear, maintaining the views and the original connection.’ Odu adds: ‘The building is tucked discreetly at the end of a close, revealing itself only upon approach.’
The perimeter walls have been retained and the floor slab structurally reinforced. The roof has been raised while the rear extensions have been constructed using a steel frame system. ‘We kept the staircase, which remains the central artery; the railings, now emblematic of residential buildings of that era, were refurbished,’ Odu says.
The word 'Mbari' in 'Mbari Kola' was the name of an older, local cultural club founded in the sixties in Ibadan, Nigeria. It is also the name of a cultural practice in the Owerri region of Nigeria that involves the construction of an ephemeral, highly ornamented artistic structure left to disintegrate after its ritual use.
Odu, who is from that region, took inspiration from the practice for the facade and its red laterite soil. ‘The ombre effect suggests a grounded base transitioning upward, rooting the project in its cultural context while also alluding to the aspirational goals of the Mbari Kola,’ he says. ‘I want people to return to a sense of wonder and discovery, and I learned a lot during this renovation,’ Ebilah adds.
She was particularly inspired by the artisan who restored the original terrazzo floors and installed a contemporary version in the extension. He will be part of a workshop they will hold on terrazzo. ‘I want people to be educated; I want to showcase the continent and encourage us to learn from and understand each other better,’ Ebilah says.
Access to the garden is through floor-to-ceiling windows that open up the views out to the water. Outside, many of the existing trees have been retained to create the oasis and space for vulnerability and discovery Ebilah wishes to establish. Here, a podium serves as an outdoor room and flexible space for gatherings, performances, and even yoga by the water.