Courtyard House
Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
- Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
- 2024
- Completed
- Private Residence
- 1,200 sq.m
- 420 sq.m
- Private family
Courtyard House sits on a narrow plot in an established Bhopal neighbourhood, where neighbouring walls are close and privacy depends on how the house turns inward. The plan wraps three bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen around a single open courtyard, so every room receives daylight from at least two sides without facing the street.
The courtyard does most of the climate work. A deep verandah on the western edge shades the afternoon sun, and a row of high openings in the courtyard wall lets hot air rise and escape at dusk. Rainwater from the roof is channelled into a shallow stone-lined recharge pit beneath the planting, so the monsoon feeds the garden rather than the drains.
Exposed brick on the courtyard faces carries the material story of the house, while the street elevation is finished in lime plaster. A perforated terracotta jaali screen filters the view from the staircase, letting the family look out without being overlooked. The clients asked for this detail early, and it now shapes the upper floor.
“A house that opens inward gives privacy without closing off the sky.”
Seen in photographs
The ideas that shape the building
- 01
The courtyard as climate engine
A single open court pulls air across every room and gives each space a second source of daylight.
- 02
Deep western verandah
A 1.8 m verandah shades the hottest hours and becomes the family's main sit-out through the monsoon.
- 03
Stack ventilation at the roof line
High openings in the courtyard wall release hot air at dusk, bringing indoor temperatures down before night.
- 04
Rainwater returned to the ground
Roof runoff drains into a stone-lined recharge pit under the planting, easing load on the street drains in heavy rain.
Exposed Brick
Lime Plaster
Kota Stone
Terracotta Jaali
Teak
- Ar. [Founder Name]
- [Team Member 1]
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