Burna Boy, a Grammy winner, has just settled into a seven-bedroom house in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial and artistic hub, at the beginning of 2020. The two-story Lekki mansion, designed by Burna’s architect Akose Enebeli, was built so that Burna could live by himself.
But the origin of this house can be traced back to Enebeli, who was in the middle of constructing a 10-bedroom mansion for former Manchester United striker Jude Ighalo when he received a call from an unidentified number in 2017. Bose Ogulu, Burna’s manager and mother, answered the phone. She made the decision to call the architect after seeing the unfinished house. When Burna saw Enebeli’s plans for his own new home in the not-too-distant future, he was ecstatically “mind blown” and had many residences throughout the world. Burna is a famous Nigerian singer, composer, and rapper. “He just kept saying ‘wow, wow you’re bursting my brain,'” Enebeli explains to AD. Overall, the architect enjoyed the process of converting a vacant lot into a magnificent home and receiving positive feedback from his well-known client. Burna, whose real name is Damini Ogulu, says to AD, “This is… where I can create.” “I created my Grammy-winning album here.”
Enebeli’s design is a peaceful 13,000 square foot refuge in the middle of frenetic Lagos, a megacity with 20 million inhabitants. The enormous building has a serene façade of beige and gray and is outfitted with all the amenities of modern luxury living. It features lofty ceilings, a personal theater, lounges, and a game room inside. Tall windows and a lot of garage space are also included.
The 3,700 square foot building, which is split into two separate sections, was designed by Enebeli and his colleagues to maximize natural light. A recording studio, a gym, and guest artist accommodations are all together in one area. For Burna, the other is a more private space. It has his principal bedroom suite, private terrace, and the gathering place for his closest friends.
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Without doors, the downstairs rooms form a continuous, open space with one interior flowing directly into the next. The main living room, which opens to a sizable window overlooking the manicured gardens, is noteworthy. Burna was born in Port Harcourt, a region in Nigeria’s Rivers State, about 384 miles distant. The compound, as a whole, conjures the tranquility of the lagoons, creeks, and the flora of that area. Burna states, “I have a lot of Rivers stuff, water noises. “It’s very water-inspired, that’s all. It’s serene. Nature communicates with me.
Burna likes to relax in his underground garden when he is at home. “He’s quite a busy person, but when you meet Damini Ogulu, he’s a warm person, and he’s an open person,” Akose Enebeli tells AD. “I was inspired by that.”
Enebeli and his colleagues at elArc Designs found it particularly difficult to implement one water-related request from Burna: a swimming pool that began within the structure and then drained outside. Enebeli constructed a portion of the living room with a built-in bar so that it would float over the blue-tiled pool in order to realize the vision. “You have the view from the main living room through the glass, you see the swimming pool, you see the sunken lounge, and you see the large garden,” the architect claims. So even if you’re indoors, you can still enjoy the outside.
Despite how lovely the outdoor spaces may be, visitors frequently end up in the vinyl room when they come around. It has a record player and a large collection of recordings, many of which were given to Burna Boy by his famous cultural critic grandfather Benson Idonije. Friends enjoy listening to Chris Okotie, Bob Marley, and Ebenezer Obey classics. Burna claims that because he travels frequently, it’s a pleasure to host there. In fact, he recently appeared at a sold-out London event at The O2 venue in August. Yes, I was far from home, but not for very long.