Eco-Modular Retreat — Dakar, Senegal

A modular eco-retreat in Dakar, Senegal, where patterned brick facades and palm-lined courtyards create a series of private units that feel both contemporary and deeply rooted in their West African context.

The Eco-Modular Retreat in Dakar, Senegal is designed around a deceptively simple idea: that a retreat should feel like a community, not a compound. Multiple modular units are arranged around a shared central courtyard that contains a pool, mature palm plantings, and integrated rock fill areas — creating a landscaped heart to the development that every unit relates to and benefits from.

Each unit’s facade uses a patterned brick module that references traditional West African screens and lattice work, allowing light and air to move through while maintaining visual privacy. The brick pattern is not merely decorative — it is structural and functional, calibrated at the module level to achieve the right balance of openness and enclosure. Wood composite panels appear at deck surfaces, doors, and louvered elements, adding warmth to what might otherwise be a purely masonry composition.

The west elevation reads as a long, layered horizontal — a series of slightly staggered bays unified by a consistent roofline. A section through the pool and courtyard reveals the relationship between the units and the shared outdoor space, showing how the buildings frame, shelter, and overlook the communal area without dominating it.

Architectural Renders

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