Kashan Courtyard House
The reinvention of a Qajar-era courtyard house in Kashan’s historic fabric, reconciling contemporary family life with the climatic logic of desert dwellings.
The house sits on one of the narrow lanes of the Sultan Amir Ahmad quarter, where tall mud-plastered walls keep the alley in permanent shade. Over the past decades the building had been subdivided with poor-quality additions, and its central courtyard had lost its role.
Returning the courtyard to the centre of life
Our first move was to strip away the additions and reopen the sunken garden courtyard. The pool and two pomegranate beds were reinstated, and the north-facing summer rooms, with their restored orosi sash windows, open fully onto the yard. The one-and-a-half-metre drop between courtyard and lane holds cooler air through summer nights.
New elements are built in hand-made local brick laid in gypsum-and-earth mortar so they share colour and texture with the old fabric, yet deeper joints and plainer detailing make the distinction between old and new honest. Kitchen and bathrooms are gathered into one compact volume on the west side so that modern services never cut into historic walls.
