About K.I.

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Designed and built by Renée Neblett, Kokrobitey’s Founder and Director, and Alero Olympio, a Ghanaian born architect of international renown, the Institute has a unique design that integrates local materials and traditional and contemporary design elements in living structures that are strikingly handsome and superbly functional. Students at Kokrobitey will notice touches of careful design everywhere—from the cobblestone retaining walls, constructed from cobbles collected by local women from nearby beaches, to the patterning of the bronze-cast door pulls.

The buildings are made of earth brick, with deep verandas shaded by the overhanging terracotta tiled roofing. Buildings are configured to form a series of terraced courtyards that descend to the sea in a design based on the traditional Asante rectangular compound, where the chief’s house is at the head of the axis. This architectural concept provides privacy and security, and invites a sense of community with spacious communal areas next to each building. The garden is ‘inside the house’, landscaping that, according to Eastern philosophies, heightens consciousness by enabling constant contact with nature.

At the highest point of the site, the main block houses the administrative quarters, reading rooms and faculty housing. Large decks from the main block give views of the ocean and drop down to the first rock garden, which is flanked at the upper end by a student block. There are two student blocks, both of which contain dormitories and rooms for twin occupancy. The institute can comfortably house up to 40 people. All rooms have secure storage space, ventilation fans, en suite toilet rooms and decks with views across the campus to the ocean. Each building block has a separate washroom with individual shower stalls, toilets and sinks. The student blocks line two courtyards, with the lower block including a seminar and video room. At the end of the campus, the garden descends to the rocky shoreline, framed on one side by the dining facilities and on the other by a volleyball court and a basketball court.

Kokrobitey Institute

Kokrobitey Institute is an American non-profit with representatives in Boston and Chicago, and a registered Ghanaian Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). American educator Ms. Renée C. Neblett founded Kokrobitey Institute in 1992. The Institute has an international board of 7-9 members and works closely with the Ghana Ministry of Education, Ghanaian educational institutions, faculty from the University of Ghana and the National Service Secretariat. The Kokrobitey Institute has been built and sustained by private funds.

Location

Kokrobitey Institute is an ocean side campus, close to the small fishing village of Kokrobitey, approximately 25 kilometers west of Accra capital city of Ghana. It is an area of outstanding natural beauty with the Institute close to the Densu Delta wetlands and directly on the most striking coastline close to Accra. The campus is set amid coconut palms and slopes down to the rocky shore, with buildings set 20 feet above sea level to allow “natural air conditioning” by the near constant sea breeze. The location retains a serenity and tranquility that makes it an ideal place for discovery, real learning and reflection.

The Design Center

Across from the main campus is the Design Center. A spacious area inspired by the goal to preserve, develop and teach traditional Ghanaian art and design techniques, the Centre is available for use by all students at the Institute. The Centre has a Kente weaving station, woodworking facilities, a 10-meter long screen table for printing, a dark room for photo silkscreen, a growing computer lab, professional sewing facilities, a small press, exhibition space, a workshop area, retail and office spaces.

The Experience

Kokrobitey Institute offers short-term residential programs in the Sciences, Arts and Humanities Internships, facilities for academic research, short-term programs for adult learners, professional training institutes, and conference facilities. Kokrobitey Institute develops new relationships across cultures, across disciplines, and between the public and private sectors of education, business and government.

Studying at Kokrobitey Institute gives students the chance to expand their ‘ways of knowing’ through living and studying in a dynamic community where they are encouraged to reexamine their ‘norms’, to learn about new cultures in a way that considers how different cultural perspectives provide different ways of knowing. Learning programs are based on a multi-discipline model that revolves around morning and evening classes combining reading, discussion, lecture and project work and field trips, exposing students to the richly diverse natural, political and social history of the region. Community service initiatives are woven into the program schedule, with students working on village literacy and community service projects. Cultural arts are also part of each schedule, with writing, studio arts, storytelling, drumming and dancing sessions that allow students to experience how Ghanaian culture fully integrates the physical, intellectual and spiritual worlds.