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Looking out the window to a garden view is one of life’s simple pleasures.
Internal courtyards take this one step further with garden ‘rooms’ and green corridors that bring the outdoors into the heart of the home — balancing landscaping and architecture.
While there’s nothing new about internal courtyards, it’s a feature we’ve seen in some of our favourite inner-city homes over the past few years, as a way to maximise greenery – especially when there isn’t room for a traditional backyard.
A great example of this is the brilliant family home of photographer Eve Wilson designed by Studio Bright. The architects have capitalised on every inch of the 144-square-metre block with a central courtyard that links the original weatherboard to a towering addition built from breeze blocks.
This serene Fitzroy cottage renovated by Architecture architecture reveals a similar courtyard encased by walls of concrete breeze blocks, covered in climbing ivy. Placing the garden in the centre of the home creates an immersive feeling, allowing many rooms to see the abundant garden from all angles.
Meanwhile, Dennis House by Olaver Architecture features a curved wall of windows that wrap around a lush garden, encouraging interaction with the outdoors as you move throughout the home.
The courtyards don’t have to be big either to make an impact. Something as simple as a few fern trees in a lightwell — like in this Trias-designed Sydney terrace — creates an immediately tranquil setting, reminiscent of a Japanese courtyard garden.
It’s also a great way to soften houses built from raw materials. This Melbourne family home of jeweller Jules Vleugel and builder Rhys Vleugel features exposed brick walls and timber floors, but this simple palette allows the diverse mix of fluffy grasses, climbing plants, and silvery Helichrysum petiolare (licorice plant) in eye-catching courtyard spaces to serve as a hero feature.
In spaces like this, you’ll want to make sure the plants are low maintainance and hardy, whether that’s ground coverings like Dichondra repens (kidney weed) and or Ligularia reniformis (tractor seat plant) with its glossy green leaves.
Or, make like Finally A Court House by Spacecraft Architects and fill the space with flowers for a pop of colour.
And no good central courtyard is complete without sliding doors to really embrace indoor-outdoor living! The epic courtyard in the Park Street project by Michael Ong Design Office shows how it’s done in spectacular form.
