A contemporary courtyard house for a joint family, where a shaded inner court and brick jaali screens keep the rooms cool through Lahore’s summers.
The traditional haveli solved the problem of the hot summer long before air conditioning. We asked what that idea could look like on a modern city plot.
The brief
Two brothers and their families wanted to live side by side but not on top of one another, with a shared courtyard for gatherings and separate, quiet wings for each household.
The design
Rooms wrap a landscaped courtyard on all four sides. Deep arcades, pointed arches and projecting jharokha windows shade the walls and draw air through the house. At the top, a parapet of perforated brick turns the roofline into a lantern at night.
Materials and climate
Handmade red brick, lime plaster and terrazzo floors keep the house cool passively. The courtyard holds a neem tree and a shallow pool; evaporation from the water lowers the temperature of the air that flows into the surrounding rooms.
