The Rain Curtain House

The plot is narrow and overlooked on both sides, so the pool is not put in an open garden. It is set into a side courtyard and the open end is closed by a full-height rain curtain — a sheet of falling water that screens the neighbouring plot, cools the air being drawn through the court, and covers enough street noise to make the space usable. The house alongside is three storeys of white render with one timber panel marking the stair, and the ground floor is given over to covered parking so the courtyard can have the whole of the side boundary to itself.