Now, a courtyard in your highrise flat

AHMEDABAD: Sitting in your eighthfloor apartment, ever let your mind wander in time — to an idyllic settingwhere you sat leisurely on a courtyard, feeling the breeze on your face, thegreenery around soothing your eyes? It would soon cease to be a dream. And, youcould have your own courtyard, right on your highrise apartment, in every floor.An upcoming highrise building in Prahladnagar area of western Ahmedabad plansout a courtyard, complete with trees and benches right between your living roomand dining hall.In an innovative adaptation of the traditionalcourtyard architecture, Ahmedabad will soon see an entire highrisebuildingwhere each individual apartment will have its 'courtyard'.It willnot only illuminate the house with natural sunlight — as is the biggestadvantage of courtyards — but also double up as a garden with an adultficus tree growing right in the middle of it.What makes it differentfrom a terrace garden, is that the courtyard can open from three sides throughglass doors — one side will open into the living room, the other into thedining hall and the third into an activity room."High-rises are aninevitable part of modern day infrastructure and people residing in highriseshave little time to go for a walk in the garden in the apartment block. This isfor the first time in Ahmedabad that we are experimenting with courtyards in ahighrise that can double up as a garden," says Apurva Amin, the building’sarchitect."We will be planting one ficus tree in the courtyard. It'sa species that has a horizontal spread of roots and need less soil," says Amin.Now, a courtyard right in your highrise flat The courtyard will either have apaved flooring with just enough soil for the ficus or have the entire 132 sq ftcourtyard have a 500 mm soil layer for grass."Courtyards have anenvironmental edge over houses without them. They illuminate the house leadingto cuts in electricity bills, at the same time cool the house by acting as aconduit to let hot air escape to the outside," adds Amin.(As theworld shudders with global warming reaching its doorstep, TOI focuses on someancient systems of conserving energy, practised down the ages in Gujarat.)