Courtyard House

Brief

A house organised around water, laterite and a sloping roof — a contemporary reading of the Kerala courtyard.

Challenge. How to keep the intelligence of the courtyard — light, rain, shade — without copying a traditional house form.

Design response. A still pool becomes the centre. Rooms open onto it through timber and glass; the roof remains a monsoon instrument; laterite holds the heat of the day.

Experience. Quiet at dusk. Warm interior light on water. A house that belongs to rain as much as to sun.