Stone Court

Low-rise, high-density housing around a shared ground

Field: Multi-Family Housing
Setting: Inner-city block infill
Scale: Study of 40 to 60 dwellings
Status: Design research

Repeating concrete piers and deep balcony recesses across a residential facade

Reference imagery: licensed photography of the built environment, not studio work

Statement

A study into how dense housing can hold a genuinely shared ground plane. Instead of a single slab with a landscaped residue, the block is broken into four masonry volumes that lean against a courtyard, each with its own stair and its own threshold onto the court.

01. Ground

The court is entered obliquely, never on axis. A visitor crosses a threshold, turns, and only then sees the full depth of the block. That single turn does a great deal of work: it slows arrival, it gives the court an interior quality, and it keeps the street edge continuous rather than punctured by a gate.

Concrete balconies casting deep horizontal shadow across a housing block — Stone Court, ground

02. Section

Every dwelling is dual-aspect. The section steps by half a level across the depth of the block so that the rear rooms sit above the court wall and receive light over it. Circulation is external and short, with a maximum of six doors from any stair, which keeps corridors out of the plan entirely.

Interior room with tall windows and light falling across a plain wall — Stone Court, section

03. Material

Load-bearing masonry, exposed inside and out, with a lime render only where the wall meets the ground and takes abrasion. Timber joists span the shorter dimension and remain visible. The palette is chosen for repair as much as appearance: every surface can be patched by a single trade.