A courtyard with undulating glass walls descends from the base of the stilted wooden structure of this Maggie's Centre for cancer care in Oldham, England, which has been designed by London studio dRMM. More about dRMM builds Oldham Maggie's Centre around a courtyard with rippling glass walls
Rooms topped with chimney-like roofs surround a secluded courtyard to from this house in Kent, England, which takes its angular form and russet colouring from the area's hop-drying oast towers. More about James Macdonald Wright and Niall Maxwell model Kentish country house on traditional hop kilns
Beijing practice Arch Studio has renovated a traditional courtyard house in the Chinese capital, adding grey-brick paving that flows from the floor of the outdoor space to form internal walls and roofs. More about Undulating paving connects inside and outside spaces at Twisting Courtyard house
British firm Guard Tillman Pollock punched a hole through a detached Edwardian property in north London to create a driveway leading to this modernist-inspired house that faces onto a secluded garden. More about Guard Tillman Pollock slots modernist-styled Holm House behind Highgate residence
Ming Gu Design has grafted a glazed meditation area onto this historic home in Nanjing, China, which projects out to overhang a central courtyard. More about Glazed meditation room overlooks traditional courtyard from Nanjing home
Australian studio Make Architecture has added a brick extension to a Victorian cottage in Melbourne that bounds the street on one side and curves around a secluded courtyard on the other. More about Perimeter House encloses private courtyard and plunge pool in Melbourne
Architecture studio Bergmeisterwolf has applied vernacular log cladding to this group of holiday apartments, which extend around a courtyard in the Italian alps. More about Bergmeisterwolf reinterprets the traditional log cabin with Twisted House apartments
A skinny townhouse in the Taiwanese port city of Kaohsiung has been transformed into a brightly lit cafe and furniture store by local studio HAO Design. More about HAO Design converts 1980s townhouse into furniture shop and cafe in Taiwan
Colourful metal cladding extends across the front of this daycare centre in the Finnish city of Espoo, which encloses a secluded playground to its rear. More about AFKS wraps horseshoe-shaped kindergarten in stripy multicoloured metal cladding
A screen of decorative terracotta blockwork fronts this apartment block in Ho Chi Minh City by Sanuki Daisuke Architects, which features planted courtyards in its centre. More about Ho Chi Minh apartment block features patterned terracotta facade and garden pockets
Patients of Hille Melbye's psychiatric centre in Oslo are welcomed by a decorative brick building, which is surrounded by landscaped courtyards designed to act as an extension of therapy. More about Oslo psychiatric centre by Hille Melbye features planted courtyards and decorative brickwork
A pair of buildings with pitched roofs and white-washed exteriors form this home in rural Vermont by design-build studio Birdseye Design. More about Two white volumes frame central courtyard of Vermont home by Birdseye Design
The sculptural facade of this house in the Indian city of Belgaum comprises staggered blocks containing rooms that extend out from a central plant-filled courtyard. More about Anahata's pared-back house in western India features facade designed as "a piece of art"
DRDH Architects and Architecten de Vylder Vinck Tallieu have built an apartment complex and social centre for elderly people in Aarschot, Belgium, featuring simple materials, communal courtyards and few bold splashes of colour. More about DRDH and adVVT complete elderly home in Belgium featuring pared-back finishes and open-air courtyards
Architects Megumi Matsubara and Hiroi Ariyama arranged this house in the forest near Karuizawa around five courtyards to provide views of vegetation both inside and outside the building. More about House in a Japanese forest features secluded courtyards framing views of trees and sky
A trio of courtyards covered in cobbles and surrounded by glass break up this London home, which has cedar-lined walls that reference the old timber store it replaces. More about De Rosee Sa uses cobbled courtyards to bring light into west London house
São Paulo firm AMZ Arquitetos has built a home in the city that expands onto a verdant lawn, while a series of planted spaces open to the sky continue the greenery through the property. More about Plant-filled courtyards create natural enclaves in Brazilian home by AMZ Arquitetos
Straight walls are in short supply at this house in Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal, which curls around the edges of a curving cobbled courtyard. More about House L27 by dIONISO LAB is arranged around a curving courtyard in northern Portugal
This stone villa in Arizona by Los Angeles architect Marwan Al-Sayed was conceived as a succession of interior and exterior spaces that are organised around a central courtyard. More about Limestone walls define sequence of courtyards at Arizona desert home by Marwan Al-Sayed
This museum on the site of a former French military and internment camp near Perpignan comprises a 240-metre-long concrete block with large openings puncturing its gently inclined roof. More about Rudy Ricciotti sinks Rivesaltes Memorial Museum in furrow at former French military camp