COURTYARD HOUSE

This purely conceptual design shows a more contemporary style house using natural materials, with flat green roofs and a 'box' form for the first floor sitting above a light and open ground floor.  The house has a mixture of very open and quite enclosed spaces, and creates a central courtyard which connects all the spaces together.  Although the ground floor has a lot of glass, the over-hanging upper floor and pergola provide shading in the summer to prevent over-heating.  In the winter the building benefits from solar gain as the glazing captures the lower sun.  The orientation to the sun is very important to this scheme.  The annex and greenhouse can be removed or altered to create a simpler and more open feel.  The house could be constructed from natural materials, such as timber, hempcrete or straw.