The courtyard is a common and traditional architectural concept in Middle Eastern countries, especially Iran. This study presents practical solutions to arrive at the optimal form and features of a courtyard based on this traditional architecture to cope with the hot and arid climate of Isfahan, Iran. A model using the ENVI-met 3.1 software was used to simulate the courtyard orientation, the height of the wall enclosure, the albedo of the materials and the vegetation level in Isfahan. As the first step of the simulation, different orientations were simulated. Based on the results, the northern courtyard is recommended as the optimum orientation for the remainder of the simulation process. A high wall enclosure is recommended in the second step of simulation to ensure cool temperatures at noon and warmth at night. In the third step, it is advised to use low-albedo material in the courtyards to avoid the extra reflected radiation of used materials on the inhabitants. The final step suggests that more than 50% of the courtyard plan should be covered by greenery to ensure thermal comfort in the courtyards. Based on these suggestions, designers can create more sustainable courtyards that are better suited to the hot and arid climate of Isfahan.

Thermal comfort in the open spaces is a significant parameter in public mentally and physically healthy. Increased hot days of cities because of the urban heat island is the common phenomenon in cities. This phenomenon effect cites quality by a different aspect such as air quality, Use of fossil fuels etc. therefore, cooling strategies in the urban and urban park’s design is one of the important issues of the designers. Urban parks have a significant effect on heat stress mitigation. Persian garden is known for its microclimate effect on pedestrians, so different patterns of Persian garden is selected to be analyzed in terms of thermal comfort condition on the hottest day of summer so far in the dry hot climate of the Shiraz(12th of July 1998 with the maximum 42°C Ta). In this paper 8 conditions are simulated by Envi-met3.1 to get environment data of these patterns and also the Rayman model is used to calculate the Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) as the proper thermal index for outdoor condition. The results demonstrate that alteration of Shortwave radiation both direct and diffuse conditions and mean radiant temperature are affected by both sky view factor and the orientation of the Persian garden. Pavilion location has an important effect in mitigation of the Tmrt by preventing the afternoon powerful sun rays through to the paths in the End.E-W pattern. Therefore, this pattern has a better condition of PET value than the others in Shiraz setting.

Courtyards as a traditional strategy were used to create a suitable microclimate for dwellers, but in contemporary architecture, inadequate knowledge of form and features of courtyards makes them deficient. This study presents practical solutions reaching optimal form and features of courtyards based on the traditional architecture of two contrasting climates of Iran. The ENVI-met.4 model was used for simulating the area percentage, water and vegetation level in a very cold climate of Ardabil and Hot-arid climate of Yazd. The simulated atmospheric parameters were imported to the Rayman1.2 to calculate PET thermal index. As the first step, 10% of the total area was advised to be considered a courtyard area for Yazd hot-arid climate, and 60% of the total area was recommended in a very cold climate of Ardabil. Next, the ratio of the water area to the total area of courtyards was simulated and the results advice, 0% of the courtyard to be considered a water area of Ardabil and 10% of the courtyard of Yazd is an optimum choice in hot-arid climate. In the final step, 20% of courtyards recommended the best condition of tree coverage in both climates. By these guidelines, designers can create a more adaptive architecture to the local climate.

Unfortunately, the architecture and urbanization of the Iranian cities, especially the traditional Iranian cities in the present era, are in many cases in contrast to the historical, social, and cultural background of these cities. In this study, architectural design in small historical cities such as Soltaniyeh has been explored to achieve a conceptual and sustainable architecture through a research-based library approach inference. Achieving the principles of architectural design in the historic city of Soltaniyeh. Iran is the main concern of this research. Therefore, to reach an integrated design process, previous studies and projects were examined and analyzed and the obtained data and principles, including historical, cultural, social, natural, climate, were in the design process of the real project. As a final result of this study, the integrated design process of these parameters is presented as a process of architectural design in small historical cities such as Soltaniyeh.