The Freetown City Council (FCC) has awarded certificates and prize cheques of Le 10,000 each to the winners of the 2026 Urban Greening Competition, aimed at increasing greenery in Freetown’s Central Business District.
Team T&B, consisting of Murad Taqi and Nyakeh Baio, won with a design featuring a green corridor around St George’s Cathedral.
Team Resilience, made up of Samuel L. Koroma and Mackie Peters, presented a concept for the Cotton Tree with a metal framework wrapped in creeping plants to symbolize regeneration.
Team ArchSpace, including Edward Carew, Deema Joyfui Lebbie, and Yusif Sesay, proposed transforming building facades into vertical garden walls, including the Africell office on Siaka Stevens Street.
The competition is part of FCC’s broader Central Business District regeneration agenda under the Freetown–Zurich City-to-City Cooperation, implemented in collaboration with UN Habitat, GOAL SL, SLRA, and SLRSA.
The council said it plans to work with the winning teams to implement the best elements of their designs, including the Cotton Tree concept.
