Excerpt: The Courtyard Office, a project by Sanjay Puri Architects, was inspired by traditional Indian courtyard houses. It features office spaces that differ in volume and orientation, allowing open spaces to be combined with enclosed ones and resulting in workspaces that are energy-efficient. A large landscaped courtyard is formed inside of a linear office space by an organic twist in the floor plan.
Project Description
[Text as submitted by architect] A linear office space twists organically in plan, creating a large landscaped courtyard within it. Varying from two to four levels sectionally, the office floors are lifted from the ground at the southwest and northeast sides to facilitate a south-westerly breeze through the courtyard.
The northeast and northwest corners of the building are also lifted, creating singular large volumes at both ends to allow visual contact between floors, where a cafeteria and a library are housed.
The circulation spine skirts the internal courtyard, allowing the landscape to be visible while moving through the office and the work areas, skirting the external periphery, and opening towards external gardens.
The building shape generates its longest sides oriented towards the north, with angled louvres on the other faces directing the internal spaces northward. The orientation allows indirect light throughout the day into all of the internal spaces, rendering the building energy efficient.
The courtyard office derives its principles from traditional Indian courtyard houses, resulting in office spaces that vary in volume and orientation, allowing open spaces to be integrated with enclosed ones, and creating energy-efficient workspaces.
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