A village of black timber and white brick living spaces.

The Courtyard House is deliberately designed as a small village of flat and gabled-roofed timber and brick structures, in single and double storeys, playing off symmetry and asymmetry.

The new dwellings are built around a courtyard of an almost chequerboard geometry, designed to take in an abundance of natural light from all sides. A place of utter privacy and retreat, cool in summer with the shade of vine leaves; sheltered in winter to catch and store warmth.

Moving between the spaces is a dance in different ideas of living – for art, for wine, for food, for rest. Rough brick and textured render walls play with ideas of artefact, of history, of what might have been, if at all…