Design & concepts
Cloud Forest Courtyard
Shade as a material
- Location
- Monte, Funchal
- Year
- 2024
- Status
- Concept study
- Scope
- Courtyard concept, Shade planting, Water element, Material palette
Illustrative sample — this entry demonstrates the project layout and is not a delivered commission. Photography is placeholder.
At 550 metres the site sits in cloud for a good part of the year. The concept works with that instead of against it: the courtyard is conceived as a cool, humid room, shaded by canopy rather than built structure.
Tree ferns do the architectural work. Planted at three heights, they create a layered ceiling that filters light and holds moisture; the ground plane stays simple — moss, ferns, gravel and one still water surface.
Materials are limited to local basalt, weathered timber and gravel. Nothing is polished; the courtyard is meant to look older than it is after the first season.
