The rear lot for this small Toronto home is tiny and enclosed at the back by an imposing concrete block wall on the neighbours’ property. A layer of wood or copper is applied to the existing elements to help integrate them with the floor surface and to make a true outdoor courtyard living space.The four outdoor walls of the space– concrete block wall, side fences, and rear house brick wall– are treated almost as interior walls. The entire space is conceived as a multi-levelled room which has cut-outs to reveal existing plants and explosions of wooden planter boxes from which plants emerge, contributing accents of colour and texture to the palette. The careful manipulation of deck levels and the re-design of the rear kitchen window wall, help integrate the indoor kitchen space with the upper outdoor dining and lower shady lounge spaces.