What OUALALOU + CHOI does

OUALALOU + CHOI is a private, partnership-owned architecture and urbanism practice founded in Paris in 2001 (with an alternate founding reference to 2003 based on a 20-year retrospective) and co-led by architects Tarik Oualalou and Linna Choi. The firm operates from two primary offices at 53 Boulevard de Strasbourg in Paris (75010) and 117 Avenue Hassan II in Casablanca (20000), employing 51-100 staff and delivering projects across architecture, urban planning, and installations in Morocco, France, Italy, Senegal, Saint-Martin, Libya, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia.

The practice works across the full scale range — from individual residences and follies to metropolitan masterplans of 1,300+ hectares — and has developed distinctive technical expertise in earthen and vernacular construction adapted to contemporary industrial methods, including the world's largest rammed earth (pisé) façade at Expo 2020 Dubai (4,000 m²), prefabricated adobe panels for Expo 2015 Milan, and woven Saharan wool-membrane (flij) installations. Its portfolio comprises approximately 50+ named projects including the FIFA 2030 Grand Stade Hassan II (115,000 seats, with Populous), the Mohammed VI Polytechnical University (with OMA/Rem Koolhaas, for OCP), the National Museum of Archaeology and Earth Sciences (with 2Portzamparc), the 2023 IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings village, multiple Moroccan government museums and stadiums, and pavilion commissions at Venice Biennale, Expo Milan, and Expo Dubai.

The firm generates revenue through project-based professional services fees on direct commissions, invited competitions, and consortium partnerships with elite international architects; pricing is not publicly disclosed and contracts are negotiated bilaterally. Its customer base is concentrated in Moroccan government ministries (Culture, Agriculture, Interior), the state-owned OCP Group, multilateral institutions, and selected private developers; the firm has no external funding, no parent company, and no subsidiaries, with ownership and creative direction resting with the two co-founders.

Name

OUALALOU + CHOI

Legal name

OUALALOU+CHOI

Website

https://oplusc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

OUALALOU + CHOI is a private Paris- and Casablanca-based architecture and urbanism practice co-founded by Tarik Oualalou and Linna Choi, delivering buildings, masterplans, and pavilions for Moroccan government ministries, OCP, multilateral institutions, and private developers across Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Architectural Services

NAICS

Architectural Services (541310), Landscape Architectural Services (54132)

SIC

Services-Engineering Services (8711)

akta.pro primary industry

ADU Design, Architecture & Engineering (HSAPAMAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Landscape Architecture & Site Design (BPAHAKAC)

Keywords

• Architectural design
• Urban planning
• Cultural buildings
• Master planning
• Exhibition design

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Architecture and urbanism design services: The firm generates revenue through fees for architectural design, urban planning, and landscape architecture services. Projects range from individual residential commissions to large-scale public infrastructure, institutional buildings, and urban development masterplans. Revenue is project-based and typically contracted at fixed fees for defined scopes of work.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

OUALALOU + CHOI is an architecture and urbanism practice that designs buildings, urban plans, installations, and exhibitions. The firm operates across a wide range of scales, from furniture and pavilions to master plans for cities and regions, serving governments, cultural institutions, private developers, and international organizations.

Product overview

OUALALOU + CHOI is an architecture and urbanism firm with offices in Paris and Casablanca, offering architectural design, urban planning, and installation services. Their portfolio comprises numerous named architectural projects (stadiums, museums, universities, hotels, pavilions, cultural centers), urbanism projects (revitalization plans, heritage atlases, waterfront developments), temporary installations, and exhibitions. The firm's work spans multiple countries with strong focus on Morocco and France, characterized by engagement with local traditions, materiality (particularly rammed earth), and innovative programmatic solutions. They work across scales from small residential projects to large infrastructure and urban developments.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Architectural Design Services
• Urban Planning and Master Planning Services
• Exhibition and Installation Design

Quantifiable outcome

• The Morocco Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai achieved LEED certification standards through passive design strategies centered on rammed earth construction.
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• OMA / Rem KoolhaascoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOualalou+Choi collaborated with OMA/Rem Koolhaas on the Mohammed VI Polytechnical University (UMVI) campus in Ben Guerir, a 35-hectare campus for 15,000 students with a 44M€ budget. The project draws on Moroccan vernacular typologies organized around a concentric fortress-town morphology, with academic buildings encircling social and residential spaces.
• PopulouscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOualalou+Choi is collaborating with Populous — a globally leading sports and entertainment architecture firm — on the Grand Stade Hassan II, a 115,000-seat stadium projected as the world's largest football stadium, designed for the FIFA 2030 World Cup final.
• 2PortzamparcminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOualalou+Choi is collaborating with 2Portzamparc on the National Museum of Archaeology and Earth Sciences (MNAST) in Rabat, a 2024 project envisioned as a new foundation deeply rooted in Morocco's 30 centuries of human heritage.
• Carta AssociésminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOualalou+Choi collaborated with Carta Associés on the Museum of Civilizations of the South (Dakhla Museum), a 3,160m² project for the Agency for the Promotion and Economic and Social Development of the Southern Provinces.
• Urban AgencyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOualalou+Choi collaborated with Urban Agency on the Industrial Training Center (CCI) in Laâyoune for Fondation Phosboucraa, a 6,000m², 4.5M€ project featuring a compact, introverted building serving as wind and sand break in a desert site.
• Art BuildminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOualalou+Choi collaborated with Art Build on the Saham Bank Headquarters in Casablanca, a 27,000m², 68M€ project designed as a nature-integrated campus with a 7,000m² public park.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Studio KO: Paris-based architecture firm led by Karl Fournier and Olivier Marty with significant cultural and hospitality projects in Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa. Closely comparable in scale, Francophone/Maghreb positioning, and material-driven cultural commissions.
• OMA / Office for Metropolitan Architecture: Global architecture firm led by Rem Koolhaas with whom O+C has a documented core partnership on UM6P. Comparable in operating at the intersection of architectural theory, urbanism, and large-scale cultural/civic commissions across multiple continents.
• Populous: Global sports and entertainment architecture firm collaborating with O+C on Grand Stade Hassan II. Comparable on stadium-scale commissions and consortium delivery models for major sporting venues, though Populous is significantly larger.
• 2Portzamparc: French architecture firm led by Christian de Portzamparc collaborating with O+C on the MNAST museum in Rabat. Comparable as a French-rooted practice with cultural and institutional museum commissions at international scale.

Broad incumbents

• Foster + Partners: Global architecture and integrated design practice with major cultural, civic, and masterplanning commissions worldwide. Significantly larger and more diversified than O+C but competes for the same high-prestige international institutional commissions.
• BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group): Global architecture and design firm with major cultural, civic, and infrastructure commissions. Comparable as a design-led practice competing for high-visibility international projects, though at substantially larger scale and broader geographic footprint than O+C.
• Snøhetta: International architecture, landscape, and design firm with strong cultural and civic portfolio (libraries, opera houses, public buildings). Comparable in design-philosophy-driven approach to cultural and public-architecture commissions at multiple scales.
• Ateliers Jean Nouvel: Pristine global architecture practice led by Pritzker laureate Jean Nouvel, with major cultural commissions across MENA (Louvre Abu Dhabi) and France. Operates at a larger scale but competes for the same cultural and civic commissions that O+C pursues.
• David Chipperfield Architects: Global architecture practice known for museums, cultural institutions, and heritage-sensitive civic projects across Europe and Asia. Comparable in museum/cultural focus and in leveraging a coherent design philosophy across geographies.

Emerging players

• Kéré Architecture: Berlin-based practice led by Pritzker laureate Francis Kéré with strong cultural and civic commissions across Africa and Europe. Comparable as a vernacular-material-driven practice (compressed earth blocks) building iconic African cultural infrastructure, with overlapping client base in international cultural commissions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks3 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/oualalouchoi
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/oplusc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about OUALALOU + CHOI