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J. Sakyi-Ansah. Photo credit: Kodjo Edem, 2018
Juliet Sakyi-Ansah, ARB, RIBA, is the founder of Studio OASA, a values‑led architectural practice working at the nexus of design, research, and community. With over two decades of experience, her work is grounded in context‑specific collaboration and long‑term thinking, developing thoughtful and scalable approaches with a commitment to social and environmental impact. She specialises in the revitalisation and adaptive reuse of existing buildings, as well as the conceptualisation of new builds for underused sites.
Juliet is an independent senior practitioner‑scholar whose work demonstrates Principal Investigator‑level leadership. Her doctoral research investigates how Building Information Modelling (BIM) can facilitate meaningful community participation in settlement upgrading.
Alongside her practice and research, she teaches on the People, Leadership and Organisations module within the MSc Project Management programme at Oxford Brookes, drawing from both theory and industry case studies. Juliet is also the founder and steward of The Architects’ Project® and Black in Architecture®, platforms dedicated to equity and sustainability within the built environment.
Purpose and Drive
Immersive PhD Research & Fieldwork, Accra, 2023
Purpose
Juliet’s work is grounded in place‑based knowing, an understanding that land, people, and lived experience are inseparable. She approaches architecture as a way of being in relationship: with place, with community, and with the histories and futures held within them, including both the communities she works with and the professional communities she works within. Her purpose is anchored in integrity, care, and attentiveness, guiding her to honour the past, attend to the present, and contribute to futures that reflect these values. For Juliet, the practice of architecture extends beyond the production of structures; it is a lived practice that emerges from how we inhabit the world.
Mission: Transformative architecture for meaningful impact
Juliet's mission is to live and practice architecture as a way of being. She works to address social inequities and environmental challenges through place‑based inquiry and design, creating conditions where people and place can thrive together. Her approach is guided by presence, listening, and attunement: walking, spending time in and with the communities she engages, and learning from lived experience. Through participatory, embodied, and collaborative methods, she centres local and disciplinary knowledge, and shared meaning‑making. Across research, fieldwork, design, teaching, and advocacy, she creates spaces and processes where these forms of knowing inform spatial practice.
Vision
Juliet envisions a future where architecture is informed by lived experience and place‑based knowing. She imagines spatial practices that uplift the communities she works with and within, honour cultural memory, and respond to the complexities of place. Her vision is one where architecture supports resilience, nurtures relationships, and reflects the diverse ways people inhabit and make meaning in the world.
Transformative Practice
Tapping Local Resources for Sustainable Development Workshop Co-facilitated with Anna Webster - Abetenim Ghana, 2015
Embodied Methodologies
Juliet’s practice is grounded in embodied and relational methodologies. She engages with communities through presence, movement, and shared meaning‑making, allowing spatial understanding to emerge from the realities of daily life.
Research Through Being in Place, with the People
Juliet adopts research strategies focused on achieving meaningful results, often requiring immersion. Through fieldwork, walking, conversation, and time spent in community, she learns from the lived knowledge of the people and places she works with. She embraces exploratory research that welcomes uncertainty and discovery, allowing new spatial possibilities to emerge from the ground up.
Participatory Practice
Juliet centres the voices and experiences of the communities she works alongside. Her participatory approach ensures that spatial decisions are informed by those who inhabit the environments being considered. She advocates for processes that are inclusive, culturally grounded, and responsive to the needs and aspirations of marginalised groups.
Collaborative Platforms
Juliet cultivates collaborative environments where practitioners, communities, and partners come together to address spatial challenges. She values transdisciplinary exchange and collective problem‑solving, recognising that meaningful spatial work emerges from shared insight, diverse perspectives, and mutual respect.
Pedagogy and Learning
Juliet contributes to more inclusive and equitable architectural education by integrating critical perspectives and holding space for diverse histories and forms of knowledge within teaching and practice. She challenges systemic biases and works to create learning environments that reflect the richness and complexity of the communities architecture serves.
Creative Spatial Experimentation
Integrating creative and social practices into spatial projects, Juliet uses experimentation as a way to explore new forms of engagement. Through interactive and participatory interventions, she creates environments that invite play, dialogue, and collective imagination.
Digital Technology in Construction
Juliet uses digital technologies in ways that support collaboration, adaptability, and responsiveness to community needs. She approaches technology from a people‑centred perspective, where digital tools enhance rather than override the agency and relational context of life.
Awards and Scholarships
Three-Year PhD Scholarship
Faculty of Technology, Design and Environment, Oxford Brookes University, 2019
SSoA Centenary Prize
Sheffield School of Architecture, University of Sheffield, 2010
Sir H K Stephenson Travelling Studentship in Architecture
Sheffield School of Architecture, University of Sheffield, 2009
Three-Year Stephen Lawrence Bursary Award
SLCT - BA Architecture, University of Sheffield, 2002
Black Achievers Award
Afro-Caribbean Cultural Centre, West Midlands, 2000
Press and Mentions
Torija Nieto, N., 2024. Princeton SoA Womxn in Design and Architecture Conference centers the work of Ghanaian architect, builder, and environmentalist Alero Olympio. The Architect's Newspaper, 2024.
Radio Public
Workshop 24, "Radio Public", Resonance FM, 2023.
Black in Architecture: New research team to draw up charter on race
Jessel, E., 2021. Black in Architecture: New research team to draw up charter on race. Architect’s Journal, 6 August.
Worldforming by Ghanaian Women in Architecture
Lokko, M., 2020. Worldforming by Ghanaian Women in Architecture. Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions magazine, March.
Black in Architecture - Capturing Experiences, Addressing Racism
Oxford Brookes University, 2021. Black in Architecture - capturing experiences, addressing racism. Oxford Brookes University, 26 July.
The Architects’ Project: Advancing Architectural Learning
Future of Ghana Publication, 2018. The Architects’ Project: Advancing Architectural Learning. Future of Ghana, pp. 56–84.
The Architects’ Project: Development through Architecture in Accra
Guillet, C., 2014. The Architects’ Project: Development through Architecture in Accra. L'Afrique des Idées, 21 October.
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