Designed to respond to a brief for ‘baby boomers’, happy to downsize from a large family house, but too active and independent for a retirement flat. high-density courtyard housing, we designed a courtyard home, capable of being used as a 1-bed 'bungalow' or 2-3 bed house, allowing owners to expand and contract their use of the house over their lifetime and possibly between seasons.

Site layout and orientation allow privacy for each dwelling, but create open views to communal external spaces and beyond the site perimeters. Houses and courtyards are precisely arranged to maximise daylighting and sunlight for passive solar heating over the low-pitched roofs of adjoining houses.

Main spaces in each house face onto a private courtyard, whilst front gardens allow social contact. Each courtyard is envisaged as an outdoor room, allowing the internal spaces to spill outside.