This pilot project was developed and constructed with volunteers from the local informal settlement of Okrika Waterside, and formed a significant component of the Human City Project and People Live Here campaign against forced evictions and the illegal demolition of slum settlements, supported by Amnesty International. 

Comprising a radio training studio, town hall, and exhibition space to inform local residents about the campaign and broader work of Collaboraive Media Advocacy Platform, the project aimed to use locally available materials wherever possible, demonstrating alternative, environmentally sustainable approaches to construction in waterfront environments.

The design used the prominent location to create new public space, and to demonstrate to people that many informal settlements in Port Harcourt already possess the community governance structures, organisational capacity, skills and motivation to develop their communities and drive a process of successful and inclusive urban regeneration. 

The process of working with local volunteers, and inviting members of the community to visit the site during construction and engage with the work we were doing provided an invaluable opportunity to share knowledge and skills, to learn more about people’s day to day experience of life in the waterfronts of Port Harcourt, and to challenge people’s preconceptions of different types of building technology. 

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