The patio reads first: a rectangle of grass set within timber decking, held by walls and glass. From there, the courtyard extension rises in two levels and turns a narrow piece of ground into the centre of the house. The opening is not treated as leftover space. It works as the main room outside, with clear views across the enclosure and toward the stair and upper storey.<\/p>\n
Inside the courtyard extension, the plan keeps changing as you move around the patio. Seats sit at different edges, and each one looks back through another opening. That is where the project becomes legible: the enclosed courtyard is not a single square void, but a sequence of pauses, thresholds and framed sightlines. Brick, glass and wood meet at close range, so the boundaries stay visible instead of disappearing into one surface.<\/p>\n
The two-storey addition gives the courtyard a vertical rhythm. One level catches the lower garden edge; the other reaches above it with glazed panels and timber frames. The effect is most evident when seen from the patio itself, where the house seems to fold around the open centre. The proportions stay compact, but the layered height gives the space more than one direction to read.<\/p>\n
At the corner of the patio, a glazed lantern links the two levels of the extension. It sits upright against the enclosure, marking the junction between the lower and upper parts of the build. By day it is a clear vertical piece of glass; by evening it becomes a lit marker in the courtyard. The detail is small, but it organizes the whole composition by making the stair atrium and the upper edge easy to read from outside and from within.<\/p>\n
The lantern also helps the project hold its calm profile. Rather than cutting across the courtyard with heavy structure, the upper volume remains light in appearance. The glass catches reflections from the surrounding walls, while the timber framing keeps the detail close to the rest of the material palette. In the images, the lantern acts less like decoration and more like a hinge between roofline, stair and patio edge.<\/p>\n
Material choice stays focused. Iroko window frames give the openings a defined edge, while the glass balustrade lets the stair and upper landing stay visually open. Along the ground plane, bamboo flooring introduces a softer surface underfoot, with a texture that sits well beside the timber decking outside. The result is not a polished showpiece but a measured set of surfaces that carry light in different ways. Brick remains present in the background, giving the lighter wood and glass elements something solid to sit against.<\/p>\n
The mix of wood and glass also shapes how the rooms are read from the patio. Darker frames outline the openings, the white and taupe wall planes sit back, and the glazed areas open long views through the plan. That contrast is strongest around the stair atrium, where the vertical void, the balustrade and the timber details line up in one view. The courtyard extension keeps returning to that relationship: solid wall, clear opening, then another layer beyond.<\/p>\n
One of the most striking things about the enclosed courtyard is how it supports sitting without turning into a furnished terrace. The seating points are built into the arrangement rather than added as objects. Some face the grass square in the middle, others look toward the glazed opening or back into the house. This gives the patio the feel of a room with several addresses, where the route around the perimeter matters as much as the centre.<\/p>\n
That quality is reinforced by the flooring. The bamboo surface inside and the timber around the patio meet at a line that is easy to read but not abrupt. There is no need for a dramatic threshold; the change in material does the work. Through the openings, the house and courtyard stay in dialogue, and the indoor-outdoor flow remains visible in every direction. The project uses that connection sparingly, through proportion and alignment rather than gesture.<\/p>\n
Alongside the patio, the stair atrium adds another layer to the house extension. Housed in glass and timber, it lets light move through the vertical core and gives the interior a clear sense of height. The balustrades are transparent enough that the stair can be read through them, while the wood keeps the space from feeling cold or overexposed. Seen from the lower level, the atrium becomes a framed slice of circulation rather than a hidden back route.<\/p>\n
The images show how the stair zone ties back to the courtyard. Openings along the route keep the patio in sight, and the glass panels maintain that visual link between inside and outside. Even the darker structural lines seem chosen to keep the geometry legible. This is where the courtyard extension is most convincing: not in a single large gesture, but in the way the stair, the lantern and the patio edge all share one vertical conversation.<\/p>\n
When the glazed lantern is lit, the courtyard changes character without changing shape. The glass volume picks up the light, and the patio edges become easier to trace against the walls. Because the extension is arranged around an enclosed courtyard, that glow stays contained, reflecting off the brick and timber rather than spilling away. It is a quiet effect, but it clarifies the project\u2019s central idea: a compact open space can carry the main spatial drama of the house.<\/p>\n
Viewed as a whole, the courtyard extension depends on contrast more than scale. Grass sits inside timber decking, glass stands beside wood, and the stair atrium cuts a vertical path through the plan. Those moves are modest on their own. Together they make the patio read as the core of the house, with the glazed lantern marking the point where the two-storey addition comes into focus.<\/p>\n
Photography: ARHK architecten<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":564171,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"courtyard extension","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Courtyard extension with glazed lantern","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"A two-storey courtyard extension with clear sightlines, seating around the patio and a direct indoor-outdoor connection.","_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":"","_yoast_wpseo_content_score":"","content-type":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":"","_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":null,"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":""},"hoog_category":[3075],"class_list":["post-1064062","hoog_project","type-hoog_project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","hoog_category-exterior-design"],"acf":{"hoog_project_owner":859142,"hoog_contributors":null,"hoog_project_badge":"","hoog_featured_project":false,"hoog_project_video":"","hoog_project_photos":[{"image_file":564171,"video_id":"","image_size":"full"},{"image_file":564168,"video_id":"","image_size":"full"},{"image_file":564174,"video_id":"","image_size":"full"},{"image_file":564177,"video_id":"","image_size":"full"},{"image_file":564180,"video_id":"","image_size":"full"},{"image_file":564183,"video_id":"","image_size":"full"},{"image_file":564186,"video_id":"","image_size":"full"}]},"yoast_head":"\n