Architect Frederic Schnee has modernised and extended a traditional house in Beijing by moving the courtyard onto the first floor so a shop can be accommodated at street level. More about Peach House is a contemporary brick-clad courtyard house in Beijing
Skylights and large glazed surfaces that open onto a secluded courtyard allow natural light to pour into the interior of this house designed by architects David Liddicoat and Sophie Goldhill for a narrow site in east London. More about Liddicoat & Goldhill squeezes asymmetric Makers House onto narrow plot in Hackney
Mexican architecture firm TACO has designed the Portico Palmeto studio to act as its headquarters, with pink walls, local materials, and tall shutters that open up the interior to its tropical setting. More about TACO creates its own pink-toned architecture studio on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula
A secluded garden courtyard surrounded by brick buildings forms The Ada and Tamar De Shalit House, a shelter for victims of domestic violence near Tel-Aviv. More about Amos Goldreich and Jacobs Yaniv Architects complete refuge for victims of domestic abuse
Porthole windows with brightly coloured frames, a soaring spiral staircase and waterfall gutters are among the playful touches MUMA Architects has included in this community centre in Cambridge, England. More about Porthole openings connect community centre and kindergarten in Cambridge
US firm Wittman Estes has added a studio building and a Chinese-inspired courtyard to an existing residence in a dense neighbourhood, aiming to show how to maximise an urban lot. More about Seattle garden studio by Wittman Estes offers model for "courtyard urbanism"
Rows of pivoting glass doors can be opened to allow air to flow through living spaces that open onto courtyards, terraces and lush gardens at this house in the Indonesian city of Semarang. More about Pivoting doors offer breezes and views at Tamara Wibowo's Indonesian home
Brazilian firm Estúdio BRA Arquitetura has designed a compact house for a long and narrow parcel of land, incorporating front and rear courtyards, and a rooftop deck. More about Estúdio BRA creates slender urban home for young couple in São Paulo
Brazilian studio Terra e Tuma has designed a slender urban home with concrete block walls and rooms organised around two interior courtyards. More about Terra e Tuma creates narrow concrete house for dense area of São Paulo
A cluster of cement- and stone-covered volumes conceal a garden of bushy grass, palm trees and colourful plants that architect David Guerra has created at the centre of this house in southeast Brazil. More about David Guerra wraps Brazilian house around courtyard filled with tropical plants
Mecanoo's vast law courts in the Spanish city of Córdoba features cut-out courtyards and golden details, in reference to the city's medieval history. More about Mecanoo completes modern Palace of Justice in historic Córdoba
Traditional Hawaiian hut geometry informed this courtyard house by Johnston Marklee, which comprises four separate volumes grouped beneath a single roof. More about Massive angular roof spans four parts of Hawaiian home by Johnston Marklee
Living spaces at this house in the Indian city of Surat are arranged around a verdant courtyard lined with glass walls that can be retracted to open the interior up to the outdoors. More about Neogenesis+Studi0261 incorporates planted terraces and courtyard into Jungalow house
Seoul studio Augmented Reality Architects has completed a house in the South Korean city of Gimhae featuring a facade formed of vertical metal poles that shields an interior arranged around a series of courtyard gardens. More about Stainless-steel poles screen living spaces and gardens at South Korean home
This extension to a house in Taoyuan City, Taiwan, contains independent living spaces for two brothers, which are connected by a glazed corridor that traverses a narrow plant-lined courtyard. More about Glazed extension to Taiwan home by 5X Studio provides views of plants and the sky
Nothing blends indoor and outdoor space like a courtyard. This week's roundup of images from Pinterest celebrates some of the best examples, from a Japanese house built around a family's beloved tree, to the open-air courtyard of an apartment block in one of LA's densest neighbourhoods. More about 10 buildings with courtyard living spaces
Argentinian firm Besonías Almeida has built a house in Buenos Aires around existing foliage, using board-formed concrete and dark laminated timber panels. More about Concrete house in Buenos Aires by Besonías Almeida fits among mature trees
This office in Indonesia created by Studio Air Putih for its own team of architects and interior designers comprises a series of red-brick volumes arranged around a courtyard planted with trees. More about Studio Air Putih combines brick with rusted steel and concrete at Jakarta offices
Japanese architect Takashi Okuno designed this house with a U-shaped plan, to ensure every room has a view of the tree in the central courtyard. More about Hiiragi's House is a Japanese home arranged around a courtyard and old tree
Uruguayan architecture firm Cotignola Staricco Tobler has sandwiched an all-white office building between shipping warehouses in the country's capital, and included two pebbled courtyards on its second level. More about Cotignola Staricco Tobler slots white office between warehouses in Montevideo