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 twenty years of experience, she combines professional practice, pedagogy, and advocacy across academic, civic, and institutional environments. Juliet specialises in the revitalisation and adaptive reuse of existing buildings, as well as the conceptualisation of new-builds for underused sites.

Juliet is completing a three-year faculty‑funded PhD at Oxford Brookes University, where her research investigates BIM‑based Community Capacity Building for Participation in Settlement Upgrading in Accra. This work integrates practice, ethnographic insight, and industry methodologies, particularly BIM, to explore how communities can continue to meaningfully change the environments they inhabit.

She holds a BA (Hons) and MArch from the University of Sheffield School of Architecture, the Professional Practice Examination (PPE) through the Architects Registration Council of Ghana and the Ghana Institute of Architects, and RIBA Part 3 from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London.

Professional Practice

Juliet has worked in architectural practices in Bristol, Accra, and Birmingham, contributing to and leading projects across residential, cultural, educational, financial, office, leisure, and hospitality sectors. Through this experience, and her work with both professional and local communities, she has cultivated a design approach that centres on people, place identity, and the social and cultural processes that inform the production of the built environment. 

Architectural Discourse and Advocacy

Juliet’s commitment to architectural discourse began in 2009 when she co‑conceived and co‑organised the Sheffield School of Architecture’s student‑led theory forum on Ecology, an international platform for developing shared architectural language around ecological thinking.

She continued this work in 2012 by coordinating The Production of Place conference at the University of East London, exploring how social, economic, and political forces inform the built environment. In 2019, she launched Narratives Issue 01 in London, a publication amplifying emerging and diverse voices and perspectives within the built environment.

Juliet is the founder of The Architects' Project® and Black in Architecture®, initiatives advancing equity, inclusivity, and innovation in the built environment. Through The Architects’ Project, she activated /tap Exchange, a platform fostering dialogue on pressing social and environmental issues. Notable programmes include:

• Remaking Agbogbloshie with Agbogbloshie Makerspace Platform (2014)

• Tapping Local Resources for Sustainable Development with the Architects Registration Council of Ghana (2014)

• Transcultural Praxis with London Metropolitan University (2015)

• From Memory Comes Place with The Africa Centre, London (2017)

• Race in Architectural Education: Decolonising the Curriculum Symposium (2021)

Teaching and Academic Engagement

Juliet co‑conceived and co‑ordinated Race in Architectural Education: Decolonising the Curriculum (2021–22) in collaboration with Oxford Brookes University’s Place, Culture, and Identity research group, who hosted the programme. A discipline‑wide initiative, it engaged with key issues in architectural education and inclusive curriculum practices.

She lectures on People, Leadership, and Organisations for the MSc Project Management programme at Oxford Brookes University. She has also taught on the final‑year Studio (Design) module for the BA (Hons) Architecture programme at the University of Liverpool School of Architecture and at Birmingham City University.

Community and Social Practice

As a Time Rebel at CoLab Dudley (2021), Juliet developed her concept of Learn/Play, exploring how learning and play can be integrated into underutilised community spaces. In 2023, she collaborated with social art practice Workshop24 to co‑facilitate the Radio Public Library project in Brierley Hill, supporting community engagement through participatory social art.

Juliet's Mission

Transformative architecture for meaningful impact.

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