11 Incredible Internal Courtyards That Bring The Outdoors In
Architecture
Photographer Eve Wilson’s inner city family home. Photo – Eve Wilson. Editorial Styling – Annie Portelli.
Garden Tower House designed by award-winning architects Studio Bright. Photo – Eve Wilson. Editorial Styling – Annie Portelli.
The central courtyard links the old and new parts of the home. Photo – Eve Wilson. Editorial Styling – Annie Portelli.
Jeweller Jules Vleugel and builder Rhys Vleugel’s Fitzroy North family home. Photo – Eve Wilson. Editorial Styling – Annie Portelli.
Architecture by Therefore Studio. Gardens by Peachy Green. Built by Basis Builders. Photo – Eve Wilson. Editorial Styling – Annie Portelli.
The calming house is shaped around a series of small, leafy courtyards. Photo – Eve Wilson. Editorial Styling – Annie Portelli.
Dennis House by Architecture architecture is a new sustainable build in Melbourne. Photo – Tom Ross
The central courtyard is glazed all-round for visual connections but screened above for privacy and shading. Photo – Tom Ross
Sunday by Architecture architecture is an incredible renovated workers’ cottage in Fitzroy. Photo – Tom Ross
Even the bathtub gets to enjoy a lush view of the courtyard garden. Photo – Tom Ross
Hidden Garden House by Trias. Photo – Alisha Gore. Editorial Styling – Tess Thyregod.
Park Street House by Michael Ong Design Office takes its cues from campsite living. Photo – Derek Swalwell. Styling – Natalie James.
Naples Street House by Edition Office is shaped around a central outdoor garden room. Photo – Tasha Tylee
The courtyard is the perfect spot to relax, and take in the views of the surrounding treetops in Box Hill. Photo – Tasha Tylee
Life Down a Lane by Tom Robertson Architects. Photo – Tom Ross. Styling – Jess Kneebone
The inner Melbourne home reveals a garden at the centre. Photo – Tom Ross. Styling – Jess Kneebone
Looking out the window to a garden view is one of life’s simple pleasures.
Internal courtyards take this one step further with garden ‘rooms’ and green corridors that bring the outdoors into the heart of the home — balancing landscaping and architecture.
While there’s nothing new about internal courtyards, it’s a feature we’ve seen in some of our favourite inner-city homes over the past few years, as a way to maximise greenery – especially when there isn’t room for a traditional backyard.
A great example of this is the brilliant family home of photographer Eve Wilson designed by Studio Bright. The architects have capitalised on every inch of the 144-square-metre block with a central courtyard that links the original weatherboard to a towering addition built from breeze blocks.
This serene Fitzroy cottage renovated by Architecture architecture reveals a similar courtyard encased by walls of concrete breeze blocks, covered in climbing ivy. Placing the garden in the centre of the home creates an immersive feeling, allowing many rooms to see the abundant garden from all angles.
Meanwhile, Dennis House by Olaver Architecture features a curved wall of windows that wrap around a lush garden, encouraging interaction with the outdoors as you move throughout the home.
The courtyards don’t have to be big either to make an impact. Something as simple as a few fern trees in a lightwell — like in this Trias-designed Sydney terrace — creates an immediately tranquil setting, reminiscent of a Japanese courtyard garden.
It’s also a great way to soften houses built from raw materials. This Melbourne family home of jeweller Jules Vleugel and builder Rhys Vleugel features exposed brick walls and timber floors, but this simple palette allows the diverse mix of fluffy grasses, climbing plants, and silvery Helichrysum petiolare (licorice plant) in eye-catching courtyard spaces to serve as a hero feature.
In spaces like this, you’ll want to make sure the plants are low maintainance and hardy, whether that’s ground coverings like Dichondra repens (kidney weed) and or Ligularia reniformis (tractor seat plant) with its glossy green leaves.
Or, make like Finally A Court House by Spacecraft Architects and fill the space with flowers for a pop of colour.
And no good central courtyard is complete without sliding doors to really embrace indoor-outdoor living! The epic courtyard in the Park Street project by Michael Ong Design Office shows how it’s done in spectacular form.