In Nigeria’s heritage architecture, courtyards were utilised not just to allow daylight in but to ensure cross ventilation through the buildings, and also to allow for rainwater catchment in the southwest through impluvia found in the compluviums; and in the north, courtyards allowed people to congregate in the shade of the buildings in the compound. The overhanging eaves of the courtyards, terraces and loggia of traditional heritage buildings in the southwest allowed the ancestors to rest and conduct their activities in the shad. The same principle has been applied in the courtyards of the terrace houses on McDonald Street in Ikoyi where the facades in their vivid hues are a contemporary interpretation of Afro-Brazilian Architecture.