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← Aoife Brennan

Courtyard · Shade · Evergreen

Rathmines courtyard

A 5m × 9m north-facing courtyard turned into a layered green room.

Location
Dublin
Size
5m × 9m
Year
2025
Timeline
3 weeks design, 5 weeks build
Before: damp, shaded and used only for bins. The wall behind is 2.4m high.
Before: damp, shaded and used only for bins. The wall behind is 2.4m high.
The raised sleeper bed lifts planting into the available light and hides the wall base.
The raised sleeper bed lifts planting into the available light and hides the wall base.
Pale porcelain in a running bond makes the courtyard feel wider than it is.
Pale porcelain in a running bond makes the courtyard feel wider than it is.
A slatted screen hides the bin store and bike rack from the main seating area.
A slatted screen hides the bin store and bike rack from the main seating area.

The brief & the site

The clients had a damp, shaded courtyard surrounded by 2.4m walls that was only ever used to store bins.

They wanted somewhere to eat outside, a quiet place to read, and planting that looked good from the kitchen window all year, on a build budget of about €18,000.

Key decisions & why

  1. 1

    I lined the longest wall with a raised sleeper bed rather than planting at ground level. It lifts the planting into the little light the space gets and hides the base of the wall.

  2. 2

    For paving I chose a pale porcelain, laid in a running bond. It bounces light into the shade and reads as larger than darker stone would.

  3. 3

    Planting is built around evergreen structure (sarcococca, ferns, hellebores) with spring bulbs for seasonal change, so the courtyard never looks empty in winter.

  4. 4

    The bin store and bike rack are tucked behind a slatted screen, so the practical bits disappear from the main view.

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