Landscape
2022
Restoration of a historic residential courtyard in the heart of Patan's old city, returning a degraded shared space to daily use through material repair and careful planting
Location
Lalitpur, Nepal
Category
Landscape
Year
2022
The courtyard at Mangal Tole in Patan's historic core had served for centuries as the communal heart of a cluster of Newari townhouses. By the time Nirman Studio was approached, the space had been divided informally by residents, filled with parked motorcycles and ad-hoc storage, and its original paving a field of traditional Newari brick laid in a herringbone pattern had been partially obscured under concrete patches and loose gravel. The brief came not from a single client but from a collective of seven families who shared the courtyard and wished to restore it to a condition suitable for festivals, daily gathering, and children's play.
The approach was primarily one of careful repair rather than intervention. Nirman Studio conducted a detailed condition survey of the existing brick paving, documenting which sections remained structurally sound, which had been disrupted by later utility trenching, and where original drainage channels small carved stone gutters running toward a central sunken basin could be uncovered and restored. New brick was sourced from a Bhaktapur kiln that still produces the traditional small-format Newari brick at the original 220mm x 110mm x 40mm dimensions, and all replacement work was carried out by a mason trained in the traditional bedding and jointing techniques.
Courtyard area: 148 sqm. Three Ficus religiosa and two Michelia champaca introduced, semi-mature specimens sourced from a nursery in Godawari. Central chaitya conserved in collaboration with the Department of Archaeology. Project duration: six months, split across two dry seasons.
Replacement brick sourced from Ram Lal Kiln, Bhaktapur — one of three remaining producers of traditional small-format Newari brick. All mortar joints raked to a depth of 8mm and repointed using a lime putty mix consistent with historic construction in the district.
The planting design introduced three courtyard trees — a sacred Ficus religiosa at the northern end and two mature Michelia champaca near the southern entry — along with a band of seasonal flowering plants around the base of the central chaitya, a small Buddhist shrine that anchors the courtyard spatially. Stone benches were reset and two fallen lantern posts reinstated. The restored courtyard was inaugurated during the 2023 Indra Jatra festival, with all seven families present. The project was carried out entirely pro-bono by Nirman Studio as a contribution to the built heritage of the valley.