COURTYARD HOUSE STYLE

Prepared By : Bara’a Bahnini

To : Dr. Haitham Ratrout Dr. Iman Al Amad

Arch. Maisa’ Arafat

• A court or courtyard is an enclosed area, often a space enclosed by a building that is open to the sky. These areas in inns and public buildings were often the primary meeting places for some purposes, leading to the other meanings of court. Both of the words "court" and "yard" derive from the same root, meaning an enclosed space.

Introduction

The huge courtyard surrounded by arched porticoes in the Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia .

Plans of Courtyard Houses

courtyard

Historic use

• Courtyards—private open spaces surrounded by walls or buildings—have been in use in residential architecture for almost as long as people have lived in constructed dwellings. The courtyard house makes its first appearance ca. 6400–6000 BC (calibrated), in the Neolithic Yarmukian site at Sha'ar HaGolan, in the central Jordan Valley, on the northern bank of the Yarmouk River, giving the site a special significance in architectural history.

• Courtyards have historically been used for many purposes including cooking, sleeping, working, playing, gardening, and even places to keep animals.

• Before courtyards, open fires were kept burning in a central place within a home, with only a small hole in the ceiling overhead to allow smoke to escape. Over time, these small openings were enlarged and eventually led to the development of the centralized open courtyard we know today. Courtyard homes have been designed and built throughout the world with many variations.

• Courtyard homes are more prevalent in temperate climates, as an open central court can be an important aid to cooling house in warm weather. However, courtyard houses have been found in harsher climates as well for centuries. The comforts offered by a courtyard—air, light, privacy, security, and tranquility—are properties nearly universally desired in human housing.

Courtyard in a cloister

Courtyard in the Munich Residenz , Bavaria

Comparison throughout the world

UR 2000 BC — two-storey houses constructed around an

open square were built of fired brick. Kitchen, working, and public spaces were located on the ground floor, with private rooms located upstairs

The central uncovered area in a Roman domus  was referred to as an atrium. Today, we generally use the term courtyard to refer to such an area, reserving the word atrium to describe a glass-covered courtyard. Roman atrium houses were built side by side along the street. They were one-storey homes without windows that took in light from the entrance and from the central atrium. The hearth, which used to inhabit the center of the home, was relocated, and the Roman atrium most often contained a central pool used to collect rainwater, called an impluvium. These homes frequently incorporated a second open-air area, the garden, which would be surrounded by Greek-style colonnades, forming a peristyle. This created a colonnaded walkway around the perimeter of the courtyard, which influenced monastic structures centuries later.

Rome

The Middle EastCourtyard houses in the Middle East reflect the nomadic

influences of the region. Instead of officially designating rooms for cooking, sleeping, etc., these activities were relocated throughout the year as appropriate to accommodate the changes in temperature and the position of the sun. Often the flat rooftops of these structures were used for sleeping in warm weather. In some Islamic cultures, private courtyards provided the only outdoor space for women to relax unobserved.

ChinaThe traditional Chinese courtyard house, e.g., siheyuan,

is an arrangement of several individual houses around a square. Each house belongs to a different family member, and additional houses are created behind this arrangement to accommodate additional family members as needed. The Chinese courtyard is a place of privacy and tranquility, almost always incorporating a garden and water feature. In some cases, houses are constructed with multiple courtyards that increase in privacy as they recede from the street. Strangers would be received in the outermost courtyard, with the innermost ones being reserved for close friends and family members.

Hooper House

• In a more contemporary version of the Chinese model, a courtyard can also can be used to separate a home into wings; for example, one wing of the house may be for entertaining/dining, and the other wing may be for sleeping/family/privacy. This is exemplified by the Hooper House in Baltimore, Maryland.

EuropeThe medieval European farmhouse embodies what we

think of today as one of the most archetypal examples of a courtyard house—four buildings arranged around a square courtyard with a steep roof covered by thatch. The central courtyard was used for working, gathering, and sometimes keeping small livestock. An elevated walkway frequently ran around two or three sides of the courtyards in the houses. Such structures afforded protection, and could even be made defensible.

United StatesIn the first half of the 20th century, a trend developed in

Los Angeles around Courtyard houses. Designers such as the Davis family and the Zwebell family developed houses that only visually appeared to mimic Mediterranean architecture, but using very carefully planned courtyards managed to create both a sense of community, safety and scale. Using various levels of private/public gradations these courtyard houses were so successful that they have been copied throughout the western coast of the United States.

In San Francisco, the floor plans of "marina style" houses often include a central patio, a miniature version of an open courtyard, sometimes covered with glass or a translucent material. Central patios provide natural light to common areas and space for potted outdoor plants.

Pakistan In Gilgit/Baltistan, Pakistan, courtyards were traditionally

used for public gatherings where village related issues were discussed. These were different from jirgahs, which are a tradition of the tribal regions of Pakistan.

City Palace, Udaipur, India

The Court of the Lions, Alhambra, Granada, Andalusia 

A Chinese courtyard in Beijing.

Rome, Italy, a courtyard

Tripoli, the Karamanli House

Central patio in Buenos Aires, Antonio Ballvé Penintetiary Museum

Saint-Emilion's, Romanesque ruins

A ventilated courtyard as a passive cooling strategy in the warm humid tropics

• The inclusion of an internal courtyard in building design is attributed to the optimization of natural ventilation in order to minimize indoor overheating conditions. However, the efficiency of this strategy greatly depends on the design details of the building composition in providing appropriate airflow pattern to the courtyard. From the results of thermal measurements, a significant correlation between wall surface temperatures and indoor air temperatures is evident. A reduction of indoor air temperature below the levels of ambient is seen as a function of heat exchange between the indoor air and high thermal mass of the building fabric. However, this behavior is affected by indoor airflow patterns, which are controlled through the composition between envelope openings and the courtyard of the building.

• From a computational analysis, several airflow patterns are identified. A relatively better indoor thermal modification is seen when the courtyard acts as an air funnel discharging indoor air into the sky, than the courtyard acts as a suction zone inducing air from its sky opening. The earlier pattern is promoted when the courtyard is ventilated through openings found in the building envelope. The computational simulation utilizing the standard k-ϵ turbulent model with isothermal condition agrees closely with the measurements taken from the field investigation.

Relevance today

• Courtyard houses made a lot of sense. The residents got outdoor space that was secure and usable at all times of day; nobody had to lock a window or door that opened into the central area. It provided lots of natural ventilation. The roofs were often used for rainwater collection. They have kept people appropriately warm and cool without high technology- for 4,500 years.

• Now, according to the Wall Street Journal, they are all the rage again, for many of the same reasons that the Romans loved them 2000 years ago.

• Today, the courtyard has swung back to being a blend of geometry and nature, transforming from a functional protection from weather and foes to a space that's conducive to spending more time outside. Courtyards work with any style of home, from modern to classical, but the designs are particularly popular in warmer climates, where courtyards induce airflow. When designed properly, one end of the courtyard can be 15 degrees cooler than the other end because

• The Journal notes that building a courtyard house is more expensive because of the additional exterior wall surface, but this is compensated for by the fact that " the increased outdoor space, converted from indoor space, can lead to lower energy bills as there is less home to heat.of cross-ventilation.

 Modern technology is also helping• A slew of new building technologies—particularly in

windows, doors and lighting—has also played a role. Window and door manufacturers now make 8-foot-wide panels that can be combined to create a 32-foot-long stretch, for example.... Similarly, LED lighting has allowed architects to transform the courtyard into a functional room at night so it doesn't just sit there like, "dead space,"

Case StudyCourtyard Houses

Seatoun, Wellington

Overview• The concept of the courtyard house reinterprets the

suburban ideal of a detached house sitting in the middle of a plot. These dwellings challenge the conventional and are an exciting option for lifestylers.

Project Summary• This development of thirteen courtyard houses makes up part of

the redevelopment of surplus defense land known as Fort Dorset in Wellington’s Seatoun and includes a new primary school for the suburb. The courtyard houses are surrounded by a number of detached and semi-detached houses that are stand-alone developments. The development master plan was created to provide a complete design response for the site using both architecture and landscape architecture disciplines. The courtyard development was comprehensively designed for the center of the site to provide a catalyst for the stand alone development of surrounding detached and semidetached houses. The interconnecting building shapes of the courtyard development alternate between single and two storey buildings that shape and shelter private courtyards. The houses, their garden walls and planting provide a staggered edge that adds character to the surrounding public lanes.

Key Project Information• Project type: Courtyard houses.• Site area : 4200 M^2.• Density: 30 DW/HA.• The site makes up part of the redevelopment of surplus defense

land known as Fort Dorset in Seatoun.• The site has a very flat topography.• Parking: Front access,• Single internal garage per dwelling (for 6 dwellings),• Double internal garage per dwelling (for 7 dwellings),• Four visitor car parking spaces• Comprehensive residential development of 13 single and two

storey courtyard houses• The houses comprise two basic models. The singlestorey 16m

houses are spaced between the twostorey 20m houses so that views and sun are maximised

Understanding The Neighbourhood

1. The size of the overall site provides for the opportunity of a range of different building typologies adjacent to the early-mid 20th century development of detached housing that makes up the majority of Seatoun dwellings.

2. New access ways open the interior of the site to a coastal walkway leading to the rugged Wellington Harbour heads

Placing Buildings On Site

1. The clever design of the buildings defines both the smaller sheltered courtyard spaces but also provides for a stronger anchor in the middle of this comprehensive development.

2. The integration of buildings and outdoor space maximises the useability of the site, controlling how every square meter is utilised. This is in contrast with typical suburban development which is likely to have areas that are under-utilised.

Street To The Front Door

1. The composition of planting, the sculptural form of buildings, the activity of screens, gates, garage doors, doors and windows all positively contribute to the public realm.

2. There are sufficient windows that overlook the lanes and provide for a level of comfort and safety for people moving through the area.

3. The diversity of different edge conditions and building materials provide for an attractive environment.

The Buildings

1. The development is made up of 13 individual courtyard houses that alternate between one and two storey forms to maximise the views from the houses and courtyards as well as letting the sun in.

2. These houses provide a new and refreshing typology for a suburban development.

3. There is both variety that helps break down the form and cohesion through the design style and materials that holds it together.

4. The skillful use of interconnected forms, shared walls and fences creates a comprehensive whole.

Outdoor Spaces

1. The built form arrangement of each house shapes the integral private courtyard.

2. The interior spaces seamlessly integrate with the external courtyards by using floor to ceiling glazing.

3. North orientation maximises passive heating through solar gain for internal living spaces.

Accommodating The Car

1. The car does not dominate as the surrounding lanes effectively operate as shared surfaces.

2. Each house provides for car parking in a range of double, single garages and open car pads that step in and out with the different building forms. This diversity helps break down what could have been a visually monotonous line of garage doors.

Site Plan

Floor Plans

Elevations

Longitudinal elevation showing the relationship of the single and double storey courtyard houses