The Courtyard House responds to a unique site by maximising daylight through the creation of an inner courtyard and optimising developable area by pushing the house to the periphery of the site to create a strong urban response in a single level form.

The street frontage is carefully scaled and articulated with deep reveals and filtered operable screens to create privacy from within, whilst still maintaining a social dialog with the street. Constructed from a slurry brick, the building form frames a view through to the courtyard and outdoor fire place, inviting people into, through, and out of the home. The heart of the home is the outside – the courtyard. Flanked on all four sides, the courtyard encloses the house as a protective form from cool prevailing winds. Circulation within the house follows the courtyard, providing a play on light and shadow, and place to view art.

The overall brick form is robust and solid, yet porous and able to be opened as required. Careful floor planning enables daylight deep into the floor plate in winter months, whilst minimising it during the longer summer days. The ability to open and close both exterior and interior segments of the house enable optimal passive solar heating, which is balanced by the ability to enable strong cross ventilation through the house due to the central courtyard.