The beautiful colonial house with ample courtyard and garden space is still a centre for Mayan research and a base to sell handicrafts produced in outlying indigenous communities.

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The curving walls of this white-washed building arc around a courtyard amphitheatre, a space that was used for client presentations and meetings.

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The 47 rooms have been revamped and the new courtyard is a calm and relaxing space to have your full English breakfast or complimentary welcome cocktail.

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The courtyard will also become a "spectacular public space" for markets, concerts and festivals, the council said.

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The main gathering space has long been the school's courtyard.

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Filling a neoclassical courtyard, the addition that opened last fall tripled the space devoted to Islamic art and more than doubled the number of objects on view to almost 3, 000, or about a sixth of the museum's works from the Islamic world.

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The courtyard, which was supposed to be a breezy, sunlit outdoor space at the heart of the estate, is now a dimly lit interior room covered by a heavy an obtrusive steel and glass roof.

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Similarly, LED lighting has allowed architects to transform the courtyard into a functional room at night so it doesn't just sit there like, "dead space, " says Baywood Park, Calif.

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