Courtyard House
Brief
A family of four asked for a home that could be closed to the street and open to the sky — privacy from Lagos without retreating from light and air.
Problem
The site sits on a narrow infill plot between two party walls, with no side exposure and a street front pressed close to traffic and noise.
Signature Drawing
Click a room in the plan for detail.
Spatial Concept
The courtyard becomes the building's real façade. Circulation wraps it on two sides, so movement through the house is always movement around a garden, never down a corridor.
Material Strategy
Load-bearing sandcrete block left exposed internally, a board-formed concrete frame at the courtyard edge, and a perforated clay-brick screen at the street elevation that filters light without exposing the interior.
Environmental Response
The courtyard acts as a thermal chimney — hot air rises and exits through openings at roof level, drawing cooler air through the perforated screen at ground level. No mechanical cooling is used in the living spaces.
Outcome
A house that reads as closed and defensive from the street, and as generous and light-filled from within — the inversion is the whole argument of the project.
Project Metadata
Timeline
Client interviews, site survey
Orientation & context study
Courtyard-section studies
Material & structural coordination
Construction drawing set
14 months on site
Handover, post-occupancy review
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