To do that, they created a courtyard, eight by eight feet, open to the elements and accessible from the kitchen through sliding glass doors.
Peering at the ground-floor intersection where the paths between the four blocks crossed, he wondered if the paths could be arranged like the spokes on a pinwheel, creating a courtyard at the hub.
To avoid leaving a potentially unattractive doughnut hole of unused space in the lot's center, Mr. Cetra decided to pack it with trees and grasses, creating a courtyard that complements the 5,000-square-foot 5,000-square-foot 5,000-square-footlandscaping and a 50-foot pool.
The layout of the structure, a "rambling group of masses", snaked through the trees, curving to follow the bend in the river, the curve creating a courtyard with a circular drive and a central fountain.
When there weren't enough complete columns from St.-Michel-de-Cuxa to create a symmetrical courtyard, reproductions were added.
The new development plan involved excavating the middle of the warehouse to create a large courtyard, restoring the windows, repainting the facade and adding a rooftop penthouse.
The rear wings of the two buildings would be sheared off to create a rear courtyard that would be shared by the new apartment tower.
It also removed parts of the second through the eighth floors to create a central courtyard and allow light and air into the building's core, Mr. Kondylis said.
To calm the atmosphere they agreed to create a temporary courtyard garden in its place for ten or fifteen years, before going ahead with the addition.
