Natural cooling in Hispano-Moslem residential architecture: the case-study of the Court of the Lions and the Court of Comares in the Alhambra (Granada).

The XIV-century Palaces of the Lions and Comares constitute the principal residential complex of the Alhambra in Granada. Both are distributed around gardens enclosed in courtyards, originally with abundant vegetation and water. This paper includes a series of measurements carried out in the rooms and the courtyards in order to contrast the different microclimates, as well as some solar-penetration diagrams. It also focuses on the analysis of the Hispano-Moslem residential type in relation to ifs environmental performance