The courtyard is king: the latest architectural trend in modern homes
Whether a grand centre point of a home or a clever, plant-filled lightwell in an urban plot, a courtyard garden is on many homeowners’ wish lists. Alongside providing occupants with easy access to an outdoor space, courtyards also help fill homes with natural light while creating a feeling of openness throughout the house. As demand for such courtyards continues to rise, we take a look at six projects by leading interior designers and architecture studios that exemplify the trend.
‘Garden House’ by Studio Bright
Australian architecture practice Studio Bright decided to wrap a living room, dining area, kitchen and bedroom in a C-shape around the central courtyard of this Melbourne cottage – aptly named Garden Tower House. The team wanted the green space, which features a slim birch tree, to be visible from all corners of the property’s new extension. Residents can peek at it from the house’s upper floors through the myriad holes of the breeze-block cladding, gaze at it from the long upholstered bench in the hallway or peer out via sliding glazed doors, whether in bed or at the dinner table, studiobright.com.au.
‘Twin Gable House’ by Ryan Leidner Architecture
Nearly every room in Twin Gable House opens out onto this breathtaking open-air courtyard, where verdant plants pop against the white walls of the gabled property. A single tall crape myrtle tree provides shade – most welcome in this sunny Californian location. Originally built in the 1960s, the building was renovated by Ryan Leidner Architecture to improve the transition between inside and out. By removing internal walls, adding glass doors and inserting square porcelain tiles on the floor throughout, they created a seamless flow, ryanleidner.com.
‘Private project’ by Maison Mavi
Although courtyards are often left open to make the most of the natural light, sometimes a covered yard can create a secluded, cosy feeling ideal for those who want a little more privacy or shade. This is exactly what multidisciplinary design studio Maison Mavi aimed to produce for this compact site in France. A climbing plant snakes its way across the walls and overhead trellis, which partially covers the courtyard, creating a dappled light that falls onto the two-tone terracotta floor and the ‘Palissade’ bench and ‘Balcony’ armchair, both by the Bouroullec brothers for Hay, maisonmavi.com.
‘Gibbon Street’ by Cavill Architects
Australian studio Cavill Architects looked to the history of this Brisbane house’s street when planning its renovation. Once populated by Italian migrants, it had been home to lush, Mediterranean-style gardens, recreations of the owners’ homelands. Inspired, the architects aimed to create a building that was ‘indistinguishable from the landscape’. An elevated living space opens out through sliding rosewood-framed glass doors onto thriving foliage and a tall tree that springs from a bed of rich soil. A verdant roof terrace up top means that the home is surrounded above and below by greenery, cavillarchitects.com.
‘Patio House’ by Meirav Galan Architect
In the heart of Tel Aviv’s densely populated Neve Tzedek neighbourhood, Meirav Galan Architect constructed a home that is an antidote to the pace of the city. Encased in glass and sandwiched between the old wing of the house, the street-facing façade and a new wing, this peaceful courtyard is home to a lemon tree, local plants and large basalt stones sourced from the Galilee region of northern Israel. While acting as a place where residents can recharge among nature, it also allows natural light to enter the home, something the architects found challenging to achieve, given the dense urban surrounds, meiravgalanarchitect.com.
‘House in Tsukimiyama’ by Tato Architects/ Yo Shimada
A home that ‘made it difficult to decide where the garden ended and the interior began’, was the inspiration behind this playful abode in Kobe, Japan, which was designed by local architecture studio Tato Architects/ Yo Shimada. At the centre is this airy, covered courtyard replete with leafy ferns, potted plants and slim trees, and topped by a glass roof with corrugated-metal gables. Equal parts adventure playground and urban greenhouse, the courtyard has a wooden bridge connecting the building’s two volumes and a swing that is a highlight for the home’s youngest occupants, tat-o.com.
