COMAMALA ISMAIL

What COMAMALA ISMAIL does

COMAMALA ISMAIL ARCHITECTES SARL is a Swiss architecture firm founded in 2013 by Diego Comamala and Toufiq Ismail-Meyer, headquartered in Delémont (Canton of Jura) with a secondary office in Biel/Bienne. The practice employs 29 collaborators across 50 workstations and operates exclusively on public-sector commissions — schools, sports halls, gymnasiums, healthcare and senior-care residences, police and traffic-control facilities, community centres, and federal research campuses — won through open and invited architectural competitions across all of Switzerland's linguistic regions. As of 2023 it ranked 1st in Switzerland and 9th in Europe in the Competitionline ranking, with 82 total competition prizes including 20 first prizes over the past decade, and holds Minergie-A-eco and Net-Zero certification on delivered work such as the Traffic Control Centre Chur.

The firm's underlying technology stack is mainstream architectural BIM and design tooling: ArchiCAD 28 with BIMcloud for collaborative Building Information Modeling, Rhinoceros 7 for complex geometry, Adobe Creative Cloud for visualization, and Office 365 for administration, running on Apple Mac infrastructure with Sonicwall-managed VPN access. There are no proprietary software products, AI/ML capabilities, or technology platforms — the practice is a services business whose deliverable is design intellectual property, supplemented by a publishing program (the monthly ATRIUM essay bulletin, the ARCHIVES monograph series, INTENSIVE PLAN READING, and the De Aedibus 118 volume published by Quart Verlag).

Revenue mechanics are classic professional services: fees are negotiated per project based on scope and complexity, with no public pricing and no disclosed figures. Go-to-market is the Swiss architectural competition system (open, invited, and parallel study mandates) plus direct commissions from public clients the firm has prior relationships with. Customers are exclusively Swiss municipalities, cantons, and federal agencies, with no private-sector clients disclosed. The firm is privately held by its two founders with no external investment, subsidiaries, or M&A activity.

Name

COMAMALA ISMAIL

Legal name

COMAMALA ISMAIL ARCHITECTES SARL

Website

https://cois.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

COMAMALA ISMAIL is a Swiss architecture firm (29 staff, Delémont/Biel offices) specializing in public-sector buildings — schools, sports halls, healthcare and civic infrastructure — won through architectural competitions for Swiss municipalities, cantons, and federal agencies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Architectural Services

NAICS

Architectural Services (541310), Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services (5413)

akta.pro primary industry

Architectural Design Services (BPAHAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Community Engagement & Participatory Planning (BPAHAKAO), Civil & Structural Engineering Consulting (BPAHAIAA)

Keywords

• Public architecture design
• Architectural competition services
• Sustainable building design
• Educational facility design
• Sports facility architecture

Headquarters

HQ city

Delémont

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Architectural Services and Project Commissions: Professional architecture services for public and institutional clients, including design, project management, and construction supervision for building projects won through architectural competitions or direct commissions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

COMAMALA ISMAIL is a Swiss architecture firm providing comprehensive professional architectural services including design, project management, and construction supervision for public buildings. The firm specializes in educational facilities, sports halls, healthcare institutions, civic infrastructure, and cultural venues, primarily for municipal, cantonal, and federal government clients across Switzerland. Most projects are acquired through winning open and invited architectural competitions.

Product overview

COMAMALA ISMAIL is an architecture firm (SARL) headquartered in Delémont, Switzerland, with a second office in Biel/Bienne. The firm operates as a unified practice offering architectural design services alongside a portfolio of publications. Their core service is architectural design spanning educational, sports, civic, healthcare, and infrastructure projects, supplemented by a publishing program that includes the monthly ATRIUM essay bulletin, the ARCHIVES series documenting completed buildings, the INTENSIVE PLAN READING compilation of competition wins, and the De aedibus monograph. The firm employs 29 collaborators across both offices and has won over 80 architectural competitions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Architecture Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Minergie-A-eco and Net-Zero certification for Traffic Control Centre Chur
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Herzog & de Meuron: Iconic Basel-headquartered global firm that also competes in Swiss public-sector tenders; much larger and more international but anchors the same competition ecosystem and frequently appears alongside COMAMALA ISMAIL in Swiss rankings.

Direct peers

• Stücheli Architekten: Zurich-headquartered architecture firm with a long track record in Swiss public-sector competitions for cultural, educational and civic buildings — overlapping client mix and competition GTM.
• EM2N Architekten: Swiss firm with a strong public-sector portfolio including schools and civic buildings, frequently participating in open Swiss competitions — comparable in scale, typology focus and competition-driven model.
• Itten+Brechbühl: Bern-based Swiss architecture firm combining architectural services with broader technical consulting, regularly competing for public-sector projects across cantons — comparable in multi-disciplinary public delivery.
• Christ & Gantenbein: Basel-based practice with a competition-led portfolio of cultural and public buildings (e.g. Kunstmuseum Basel extension). Closely comparable in using open competitions as primary project-acquisition channel.
• Miller & Maranta: Basel practice known for cultural and public architecture in Switzerland, with competition wins as a central driver of project acquisition — directly comparable in typology and GTM.
• Burckhardt+Partner: Large Swiss architecture firm with deep public-sector practice and an active role in Swiss architectural competitions across education, healthcare and civic infrastructure — directly comparable in GTM and customer base.
• Diener & Diener: Basel-based firm active in Swiss architectural competitions for housing and public buildings — comparable competition-led approach and domestic Swiss positioning.
• Holzer Kobler Architekturen: Zurich-based practice operating across Switzerland and Germany with a strong public and cultural-building portfolio — comparable in typology mix (schools, civic, cultural) and competition participation.

Others

• Conzett Bronzini Partner AG: Swiss structural engineering firm partnered with COMAMALA ISMAIL on the Delémont footbridge — adjacent enabling peer (civil/structural engineering) rather than a direct competitor, included to reflect the firm's documented multi-disciplinary delivery model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/comamalaismail
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/comamala-ismail

Compliance2 records

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 COMAMALA ISMAIL