Olympian Developments — Property Development in Accra, Ghana

Sheet 01 — GroundOlympian DevelopmentsProperty development · Accra

Site05°37′58″N000°10′32″WDuala Close, Shiashie

Three generationsof buildingin Ghana.

The Lexington at sunset — artist's impression

Now risingThe LexingtonShiashie, East Legon →

Move the cursor to raise the summitElevation ±0.00 — East Legon, Accra

Sheet 02 — StatementThe family behind The Lexington

Olympian Developments is the Skarlatos family's development company. The family's work in Ghana runs back to the 1960s — from the planning of a city to eight storeys rising in East Legon.

Note 02.1Earlier work is credited to the generation of the family that led it.

Generations of the Skarlatos family

Building in Ghana since the

Countries: Ghana, the UK, Côte d'Ivoire, Romania

Storeys rising on Duala Close

Sheet 03 — Lineage

Three Generations

The Skarlatos family, building in Ghana since the 1960s.

01 / 03

Land-use plan of Tema: residential communities on a grid of main roads, the industrial area, the harbour and green areas — Fig. 03.1 — Tema, land-use plan · family archive

Skarlatos · Generation I

Firstgeneration

1922 — Present

Senior Executive at Doxiadis & Associates for 60+ years, responsible for city-wide planning and development of Tema from the ground up in the 1960s.

City planning
Tema

The Lexington under construction: a concrete pump boom over the first-floor column steel — Fig. 03.3 — The Lexington, rising · site photograph

Skarlatos · Generation III

Thirdgeneration

1992 — Present

Developed multiple world-class showrooms in London, Accra, and Abidjan; completed a six-bedroom residence in Shiashie, East Legon.

Retail
Residential
London · Accra · Abidjan

Sheet 04 — Record

The record

Six decades, four countries.

Each project is credited to the generation of the family that led it.

01The LexingtonShiashie, East LegonRising nowEight storeys on Duala Close, opposite Oak Plaza Hotel — what Olympian Developments is building now.Led by the third generationSee it rise — Sheet 05 →
02Private ResidenceShiashie, East LegonCompletedA six-bedroom residence in East Legon, on the same ground as The Lexington.Led by the third generation
03Retail ShowroomsLondon · Accra · AbidjanCompletedMultiple world-class showrooms across three cities and two continents.Led by the third generation
04Silver Mountain Resort & SpaBrasov, RomaniaCompletedA resort and spa in the Carpathians, designed and financed end to end.Led by the second generation
05MTN HeadquartersAccra, GhanaCompletedThe MTN Headquarters building in Accra, designed while serving as the company's CFO.Led by the second generation
06City Planning, TemaTema, Ghana1960sCity-wide planning and development of Tema from the ground up, as a Senior Executive at Doxiadis & Associates.Led by the first generation

Chart 04.A — Work by locationEquirectangular · graticule 10°

The LexingtonShiashie, East Legon

Fig. 05.1 — The Lexington’s steelEvery bar, from the structural drawings

Sheet 05.1 — From the site

Photographed on Duala Close, stage by stage.

6 stages · 18 photographs

Stage 01Earthworks

Site clearance and earth-moving equipment on site

Stage 02Foundations

Foundation slab rebar mat tied and ready for the pour

Column reinforcement cages rising from the foundation slab

Foundation column rebar cages set across the site

Stage 03Ground Floor

Column rebar cage tied on site scaffolding

Concrete mixer truck pouring into a wheelbarrow

Workers screeding a freshly poured ground floor slab

Stage 04First Floor

Steel props shoring up the first floor slab formwork

Column rebar dowels rising from the first floor slab edge

Workers tying a column rebar cage on elevated scaffolding

Stage 05Second Floor

Steel mesh and timber at the edge of the slab formwork

Steel mesh across the deck with workers at the far end

Column steel with workers and a green concrete pump truck behind

Stage 06Third Floor

Concrete columns with steel bars on top, trees and city towers beyond

A worker in a safety harness fixing column steel

The frame with props, formwork and column steel, a worker on top

Sheet 06 — Method

Method

Four commitments, held across three generations.

Principle 01 / 04

We develop what we build.

Olympian is the developer, not a name attached to someone else's project. The family finances, designs and runs its buildings — which is why the person who signs off on a floor plan is the same person on site when it is poured.

Principle 02 / 04

Planning before elevation.

The family's work in Ghana began with the city-wide plan for Tema in the 1960s, not with a single building. That order still holds: how a site sits in its neighbourhood is settled before anything is drawn above ground.

Principle 03 / 04

Held, not flipped.

Olympian intends to operate the buildings it develops rather than hand them over and walk away. A development that has to work for its residents in year ten is a different building from one that only has to sell in year one.

Principle 04 / 04

One family, three generations, one standard.

Sixty years of work in Ghana across planning, corporate headquarters, hospitality and residential. Olympian Developments carries that record forward.

Sheet 07 — Contact

Speak withthe familydirectly.

+233 (0)244 30 5262

Office18 Duala CloseOpposite Oak Plaza HotelEast Legon, Shiashie, Accra, Ghana