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Hello, In today's video we'll see about the courtyard design, its flooring, and wall finish along with its different types.
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We'll also see how to protect it. Let's get into the video.
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Hello, I am Dameem Ansari from Ansari Architects
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This is a detailed video about the courtyard designs. We're also going to show you a lot of pictures and videos. So, follow closely.
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Courtyards evolved as a traditional symbol which can be seen in our erstwhile houses.
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We call it "Muttram" in Tamil. That is the courtyard concept.
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The purpose of the courtyard is to facilitate ventilation and lighting
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That is the main reason for the courtyard being present in most of the old houses.
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You can see this "Muttram" in Karaikudi and Thanjavur houses
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Surrounding the Muttram only, the house will be.
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In the erstwhile houses, you can see wall to wall construction due to safety reasons.
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So, there is no cross ventilation facility other than the courtyard
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From the courtyard, ventilation will be opened to all rooms
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It brings in ventilation from the sky and sends out the hot air in the house
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The air movement outside sucks out the hot air in the house.
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So, you get complete ventilation inside the house. That is the main reason behind the "Muttram" concept.
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Today's courtyards are done for the aesthetic value and indirect lighting for the house.
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Sometimes, it is also done for air and ventilation purpose
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The main reason for the courtyard being popular in contemporary houses is because of the lack of scenic beauty outside.
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There would be more distance between houses, so keeping doors and windows open and standing out for leisure was possible
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Now, there is a lot of pollution, dust and mosquitoes outside because of which we couldn't sit on the balconies.
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Since the houses are very close enough it is difficult to sit out on the balconies.
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So, we had to bring the beauties of nature like greeneries inside the house.
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So, that is what we do by providing courtyards.
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When we bring the beauty of nature into your homes, it looks so green and gives you the garden feel.
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If the courtyard is near your hall, you will feel as though you are sitting inside the garden.
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When you have a coffee, it feels like you are sitting on the lawn and enjoying the greenery.
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That is the main concept of the courtyard.
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Now, we'll see about the different types of courtyards.
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The most popular one is the centrally placed courtyards.
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All the rooms like the hall, dining and even some bedrooms will be faced towards the courtyard.
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The overall lighting is the foremost advantage.
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Plus, you will also get a nice ventilation.
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The disadvantage is that it determines the plan of the house. Also, it is difficult to design a centrally placed courtyard in small houses.
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So, we do the second type of courtyard in such cases.
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It is the side placed courtyards, which you can see in this plan.
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It will run along the sides and most of the time it will occupy the setback space.
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Usually, we provide 4 to 5 ft setback space which is converted to the courtyard.
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The advantage is that you get the extra space. But some might feel constructing this way might be a violation.
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But it is just an open display area. So, you need not worry much about the violation.
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But if neighbours object to it, we do have other ideas as well.
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I will tell you about it in the final tips and tricks section.
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The side placed courtyards are popular in the compact urban houses.
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In the one ground and less compact houses.
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In such houses, if we place the courtyard on the side, it is very much space-saving.
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Most of the time, it will run along the living and dining area. So, you get a very spacious feeling.
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Plus, you get an enormous lighting.
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Normally, the courtyards are present on the ground floor.
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When you continue it on the first floor, you can get a beautiful scenic beauty as well as the lighting.
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It will be very interesting because of the double floor concept.
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If you have space, we can follow that. Another idea is open on the top concept.
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If it is left open on the top, there is a chance of facing many problems.
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For example, you might get mosquitoes, dust, etc.
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So, usually, we close at the top. We also use the best closing material glass. I'll explain it later.
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Another type is the Pooja Courtyard. You can see this on the internet on the famous house we have designed recently
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You have the pooja room in the courtyard itself. You can also see the beautiful lighting above. It serves a double purpose.
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Plus, you also get a beautiful display at the centre of your house.
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This is one type. Another is the balcony courtyard.
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Like I said before, it is difficult to open the balcony and get a nice view outside.
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So, we convert the balcony into a beautiful courtyard.
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Another important thing is that we do not provide the slab on the top, but beautiful courtyard cut-outs.
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It will be interesting to use glass covers.
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So, when converting the balcony into a courtyard, with privacy.
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Majority of the people feel balcony as a security issue.
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Because it is easy to break the balcony glass and enter into your home.
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Plus, people who have daughters are sceptical to keep the balcony open because of the privacy problem.
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In most houses, this balcony courtyard is very famous and we have designed many.
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Let's see about the types of finish you do to the courtyards.
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Usually for wall finish, we can use rustic tiles.
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Because courtyards have an outdoor look. So, using rustic tiles with a stone finish will be very suitable and beautiful.
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At the same time, you do not have to overdo the walls. By using a simple design in white finish
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it will look beautiful. If you want, you can add wooden panelling, niches, artefacts, etc.
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You can also add art works to elevate its beauty.
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If you use a texture finish, it will look different than the rest of the house
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Some you can use highlight colours like yellow, bright brown, etc. The rest of the house will be smooth
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and courtyard finish will give you an outdoor feel.
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The textured finish will also be beautiful. Considering the floor finish of the courtyards,
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we usually use ceramic base tiles that will be covered.
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Upon that, you can use three kind of materials.
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One is artificial grass since you can't use natural grass inside the courtyard because it is very expensive.
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Due to sunlight and exposure concerns, it is better to use artificial grass.
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Along with black and white colour pebbles, a wooden finish by the deck-wood material.
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We have used that in form of square finish.
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It adds an outdoor touch.
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Since these are removable, maintenance is easy for you. You can simply remove, wash and use it again.
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You can completely wash your courtyard once or twice a month. Also, it doesn't get very dusty often.
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We will cover most of the courtyards. So, if you use easy to cover materials
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the maintenance becomes very easy. Now, we'll see about the plants in the courtyards.
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It is very good to use real plants in the courtyard.
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Most of the time, it is not possible.
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To accommodate real plants, the courtyard has to be huge and placed in the centre.
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With big courtyards, you get adequate lighting to grow real plants
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Maintaining real plants are also very difficult.
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We have used real plants also. But using real-looking artificial plants is mostly preferred.
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Even if you touch it, you can't tell it is artificial. We use such kinds of plants.
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We design more NRI houses, that prefer to have these plants in their courtyards as they can't maintain real plants.
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So, we use carefully chosen artificial plants that look like real plants.
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If you place it strategically, it'll look very beautiful.
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Like I said before, you can also design it simple without plants as a dry courtyard.
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By just giving white walls, pebbles, stone finish, etc. If you keep it dry, the maintenance gets easy. Also, you get an aesthetic feel.
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We do many contemporary houses, in the minimalist concept where we use the dry courtyards.
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Now, I will tell you about the tips and tricks that can be implemented in the courtyards.
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If the top of the Courtyard is covered using concrete pergolas, you would get only a 6 to 7 inches gap
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No human can enter through such a tiny space so we can confidently use a glass finish for the courtyard
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It will look very beautiful. If you do not prefer concrete cover
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then you can go for 4x4 inch MS bars closely to complete the look
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Then you can cover it with glass. Mostly we use glass too
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It is easy to cover and maintain also
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Another thing is to leave the courtyard exposed to sunlight and the sky. It is a very important feature.
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In the erstwhile houses, you would have observed how beautiful it will be to admire during the rain.
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Likewise, in certain courtyards, we have designed we have left it open to the sky.
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The majority of our clients tell us, they enjoy the courtyard set up more during the rain.
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So, if you want to get the real feeling of a courtyard, leave it open to the sky.
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If you are opting for that, the main problem you might encounter is pests.
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Usually, there are metal bars for protection, upon that we use stainless steel mesh which prevents the mosquitoes,
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lizards, cockroaches, etc. If you fix this mesh, you can leave it open to the sky and enjoy the nature coming into the house.
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We also do ceramic flooring which will not be obviously visible as it is covered by pebbles, artificial grass, wooden floor, etc.
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That ceramic floor is very important. It facilitates easy maintenance.
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It is enough if you clean once in 3 to 5 months.
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It is also mandatory to have a water tap connection in your courtyard. You can connect a hose and just spray water to clean it.
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Having a water drain in your courtyard is also very important.
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We have also designed many courtyards in the first floor also.
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This one is of the same type.
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Another one runs along the side of the first floor.
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You have to plan the water drain accordingly to facilitate easy cleaning and maintenance.
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Another very important thing your courtyard needs is proper lighting. You can also give wall lighting.
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The lighting should be subtle, so we fix it under the plant. We also go for up and downlights as it looks very interesting.
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There are also daytime simulation lights that can be fixed above in the skylight area.
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If you do so, your courtyard will give you a daytime feeling even during the night.
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Concentrating on the lighting of your courtyard is very important.
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Keep your courtyard simple and dry. Do not overdo it with soil and real plants that are hard to maintain
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You can use pebbles, stones, wooden finish, etc to ease the maintenance.
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As I said before, there might be neighbour issues when you go for side courtyards. Most of the time we convince them by making them understand.
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If they see, they get convinced 90% of the time.
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In some cases, if they object, you can design it beautifully using other ways.
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This courtyard is in a Aminjikarai house.
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It is like a patio courtyard, which is attached to the dining area.
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From the dining, you can come here to relax and have a cup of coffee in the evening.
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Another courtyard we have designed is in a Nungambakkam house on greens road.
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Here also we have a courtyard by the dining.
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If you consider the Aminjikarai house courtyard, since there was a neighbours issue, we covered it with metal.
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We have given complete protection. None can break in and enter.
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There are also sliding doors that covers the patio.
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It is grill-less and you get complete security outside.
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Covering the metals, there are rustic slabs for privacy.
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So, there will be no neighbour issues when you opt for this model.
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You can also implement water features inside your courtyard like a cascade.
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It will look very beautiful and interesting.
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Having a swimming pool in the courtyard is also a nice concept.
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It gives a nice look when you see it from the house.
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Since the top of the courtyard is covered using grills, you can have a nice swimming pool view from the dining or other room, which gives you a floating feeling.
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You can also keep a swimming pool that runs along the sides for children.
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Mostly kids love to use swimming pools.
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So, we can go for a 2ft swimming pool which is very easy to maintain.
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It also gives a very beautiful water feature inside the house.
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If you have the courtyard near the stairs, it gives you nice look while walking.
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It is a nice concept and we have done it in many houses.
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You can also keep a courtyard in your toilet by designing a small skylight.
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By keeping some pebbles and plants in that area, it will look like resort toilets that are open to the sky.
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You can go for a glass cut out to avoid privacy issues.
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If you are residing in the appartments, designing a courtyard is a bit difficult. So, you convert the balcony into the courtyard.
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Ofcourse, we can't cut the roofs.
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In this picture, you can see a house in the 14th floor.
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Here we have designed a courtyard by the dining.
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near the balcony with artificial and natural plants.
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We have given steak finish tiles, so it gives a real courtyard feeling.
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There is also a plain glass that separates the courtyard and dining to give the best experience.
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If there is a sling in the courtyard, you can also give a traditional touch
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In a house, we have also given wooden panneling
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which looks very traditional like erstwhile Karaikudi houses.
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You can also keep a washbasin in the courtyard near the living and dining areas.
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If you can't allocate a separate place for washbasin in your dining
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you can keep it in the courtyard, which serves a double purpose.
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You can also add artwork and murals to your courtyard to keep it a centre of attraction.
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When seeing it from the hall or dining, it will look beautiful.
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You can close your courtyard using glass, as all places have air conditioning now.
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So, you can keep the air conditioning from moving out.
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You can also leave it open in one of the corners of your hall.
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If you keep it open, you can close it by the first or second floor.
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Especially the cold air will be at the lower level.
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It will not go out through the courtyard and get wasted.
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We will cover the top using glass so AC won't be wasted.
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If you have an open type courtyard at the corner of your hall, it will look so beautiful with natural lighting.
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Till now, we have seen how to design a courtyard in a detailed manner.
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Using my 25 years of experience, I am giving out educational videos that will help people who are planning to build their homes.
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Thanks for watching this video
