Douala · Cameroon · since 1990
Architecture that holds its ground
An architecture practice founded in Douala in 1990 by Danièle Diwouta-Kotto. From the first sketch to handover, we lead the building operations that shape the city: headquarters, facilities, retail, housing.
1990
Founded
35 years
Practising in Cameroon
ONAC no. 88
National Order of Architects
10
Permanent staff
The stance
« Building concerns spaces meant to be lived in. It is a responsible act whose founding principle is respect for, and improvement of, the social, cultural and natural environment. »
Danièle Diwouta-Kotto, architect D.P.L.G.
Developing a demanding and inventive approach, to move past the visual dimension of architecture and answer the way it is actually built, with constant care for its context. This creative approach, steeped in tropical modernity and present in every project, has become our signature.
Fields of practice
Four grounds, one standard
Thirty-five years of practice turned our areas of intervention into genuine fields of competence. Each has its own rules, its climate constraints and its people.
Selection
A few operations
Six documented operations, from a bank headquarters renovated on an occupied site to a seafront building.
The team, at the rue Dominique Savio offices.
The architect
Danièle Diwouta-Kotto
Architect D.P.L.G., ONAC no. 88
For more than thirty years, mainly in Cameroon, she has led building operations in urban and rural settings, applying the architectural process from design through to site supervision, in areas that have become genuine fields of competence.
Listening to and understanding the client remains our central concern, followed by support all the way to handover.
Our services
From advice to handover
We work at every stage of the architectural commission, in full or in part. Seven areas of expertise, in the order the client meets them.
Advice
At the birth of the project: regulatory and administrative compliance of the intended operation.
Briefing and feasibility
Before any drawing: objectives, requirements and constraints, to define clearly what the project contains.
Cost estimates and construction economics
Cost estimates at each stage, based on our knowledge of the market, to set the target cost as accurately as possible.
Design
Sketch, preliminary design, building permit, execution drawings. Specialist engineering is issued by our partners, under our coordination.
Tendering
Organising and assessing tenders, so the client picks reliable contractors on technical and financial grounds.
Site supervision
Directing and coordinating the contractors, holding the methods, the prices and the schedule, through to handover.
Delegated project management
We stand for the developer or the owner: coordinating stakeholders, holding deadlines and budgets.
They trusted us
Clients
Industrial groups, banks, institutions and private developers.
Société Nationale des HydrocarburesTour de GardeSCB CamerounDomayoLaborexDouala International TerminalAPE Dominique SavioAPE École AméricaineCamTradeDoual'ArtADC
Built record
Thirty-five years, marked out
From the first delivery in 1991 to the Kribi residence in 2023.
Around architecture
What the practice does beyond building
The social and environmental responsibility of the practice follows the same creative thread as its craft.
« Bringing collective and creative intelligence together across connected projects is my stance today. »
Contact
Let us talk about your project
A word on what you want to build, and we will call you back. First exchanges, advice and framing, commit you to nothing.