Design studios Zürcher Arquitectos and Taller KEN took cues from the lush forests around San José while designing this courtyard house. More about Tropical plants fill indoor courtyard at Casa Las Vistas in Costa Rica
A pair of courtyards are found within this inward-facing residence by Mexican firm Intersticial Arquitectura, which was designed for a young couple with two dogs. More about Courtyards lie at heart of Yavia House in Mexico by Intersticial Arquitectura
A central courtyard brings daylight into an inward-facing, cedar-clad home in Salt Lake City that was designed by American architects Kipp Edick and Joe Sadoski for a ski coach. More about Opaque facades hide interior courtyard of Utah’s Host House by Kipp Edick and Joe Sadoski
Swedish architecture and design studio Claesson Koivisto Rune has designed a Scandinavian holiday home featuring living spaces interspersed with courtyards that frame views towards the ocean. More about House of Many Courtyards incorporates sheltered terraces along its entire length
Casa Tapihue by Matías Zegers Arquitectos is a house in a vineyard built from white stone around a courtyard with a firepit in Casablanca, Chile. More about Matías Zegers Arquitectos builds stone courtyard house in Chilean wine country
Scullion Architects has renovated and extended a terraced Victorian house around a plant-filled courtyard for a young family living in Portobello, Dublin. More about Scullion Architects folds Portobello house extension around courtyard
Architecture practice Fraher & Findlay has renovated and extended a home in east London, adding a small courtyard that offers glimpses of old and new parts of the property. More about Tsubo House in Hackney features tiny Japanese-style courtyard
Charmaine Chan has highlighted 25 recently completed courtyard houses in her book Courtyard living: Contemporary houses of the Asia-Pacific. Here she picks five of the most interesting. More about Five houses where the courtyard is the heart of the home
A blue-tiled pool features in the courtyard of Villa Stardust, a live-work house built in a former commercial building in Rotterdam by Dutch architecture firm MVRDV. More about MVRDV converts commercial building into Moroccan-style courtyard house
New York firm No Architecture has designed this house in Oregon's Willamette Valley wine country around a glazed garden filled with deciduous trees. More about Faceted glazed courtyard pierces Oregon house by No Architecture
A greenery-filled courtyard lies at the heart of this home that Keiji Ashizawa Design has created for a family of five in Tokyo's Yoga neighbourhood. More about Tree rises up through centre of House in Yoga by Keiji Ashizawa Design
White-painted bricks and pale timber define this home in Spain by Escribano Rosique Arquitectos, set around a series of paved courtyard spaces. More about Escribano Rosique Arquitectos use white bricks and timber for house in Spain
A cluster of irregularly stacked boxes forms a house for a village official in Talangpor, India, designed by Gujarat-based practice Neogenesis+Studi0261. More about Irregularly stacked boxes hide central courtyard of village house in India
Apollo Architects & Associates has designed the austere metal-clad exterior of this compact home to disguise a central planted courtyard covered by exposed wooden rafters. More about Blank metal facade of Tokyo home hides tree-planted courtyard
Raised courtyards filled with plants are cut into the facade of a house in Nam Dinh, Vietnam, designed by Landmak Architecture. More about Compact house in Vietnam contains planted courtyards
Slovenian practice Arhitektura d.o.o has designed a low concrete house in the suburbs of Ljubljana around a central courtyard that connects a series of living spaces with the owner's ceramics studio. More about Concrete home in Slovenia combines living spaces with a ceramics studio
Angled aluminium louvres cover the reclaimed brick walls of the Junshan Cultural Center near Beijing, China, designed by Neri&Hu. More about Neri&Hu surrounds Junshan Cultural Center with angled aluminium louvres
Argentinian architects Hernan Landolfo and Marcos Asa have extended an apartment in Buenos Aires and reorganised the living spaces around a double-height atrium with an olive tree growing in the centre. More about Hernan Landolfo and Marcos Asa top courtyard house in Argentina with glass extension
Architect Lorenzo Grifantini stacked the bedrooms of his own house in Puglia, Italy, inside a 12-metre-high white tower overlooking a large courtyard. More about Architect designs own house with white tower in Puglia
A courtyard with a concrete pool sits at the centre of a house on Phillip Island in Australia, designed by Branch Studio Architects and illuminated by large skylights. More about Branch Studio Architects uses skylights to bring light into Australian island house