High Plateau Residential Complex

N'Gaoundere, Cameroon

This complex is home to an influential Cameroonian businessman, along with his four wives, 39 children and numerous employees. The housing is laid out as a kind of country village, in determined contrast to the 'suffocating atmosphere' of the nearby town. Behind the main residence lie the clustered buildings of the family quarters, with five villas for women and children, a meeting-place, clinic, kitchen block, storerooms, sanitary facilities and garages. The structure and the walls are of reinforced concrete, the roofs are covered in timber shingles. An abundance of highly skilled labour led to an emphasis on manual construction techniques.

Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture