Current events have exacerbated the typology of the living condition as mere shelter. The home is more than that. It is a space to sleep, work, play, entertain, teach, learn, grow, and connect. The Courtyard House re-imagines the setting for the work-live-socialize environment.
Global Design & Architecture Design Awards 2021
First Award | Category: Private Residence (Large) (Concept)
Project Name: The Courtyard House
Project Category: Private Residence (Large) (Concept)
Studio Name: AÇA
Design Team: Alda Çapi
Area: 6800 SF
Year: Desigend 2020
Location: Napa, CA
Designed as a mixed-use building, with an emphasis on the connection to nature and spatial beauty, the Courtyard House offers a counterpoint critique to the micro-unit apartment contraptions that are being built in dense cities. The residence is designed for a tech client and an art collector. It is composed of efficiently aggregated spaces. Four courtyards puncture the floorplan. The circulation is through rooms, eliminating the need for corridors.
The Courtyard House is a porus building, full of light, views, fresh air, and a great connection to the outdoors. The mixed-use program includes bedrooms, an office, and an art gallery. The secondary spaces consist of a living area, kitchen, library, and bathroom. Supportive functions, in the form of appliances, millwork, closets, line up the walls of the house. The four courtyards surround a multi-functional flexible space that can be used for formal dining, entertaining, or conference room.
The project explores the threshold conditions between the interior and the exterior environments and it uses advanced glazing technology and construction methods at these physical and visual thresholds. Smart glazing allows for transparent surfaces to turn opaque instantly if more privacy is desired. These transparent thresholds enable see-through views to the courtyard, to the outside, and to other spaces of the house. The transparent doors read as a part of the glazing system and are not visually imposing. Other opaque secret doors are designed as a part of the wall system to be concealed from view. The visual clues that these are passages into other spaces are revealed by minimal door handle fixtures and the light coves above them.
