Designing for light and aspect

Aspect is decided before a single wall is drawn. On a Sydney or South Coast site, the main living spaces want to face north, where the sun tracks across the whole day. In winter that sun sits low and reaches deep into the room, and in summer it climbs high overhead, which makes it easy to shade. Getting this first move right costs nothing and shapes everything after it.

The seasonal swing in the sun is what lets a fixed roof do quiet work. At our latitude the midday sun sits high overhead in summer and much lower in the sky through the middle of winter. A modest eave over a north window can hold off the high summer sun and still let the low winter sun slip underneath, warming the floor with no moving parts and no fuss.

East and west are the harder sides, and an eave cannot solve them. Low morning and late-afternoon sun arrives almost flat, so we answer it with vertical devices: timber battens, adjustable louvres, deep reveals, planting, or simply placing a laundry, garage or bathroom on the western side as a buffer. West glass in particular we keep small, so a room stays comfortable at the end of a hot day.

Where winter sun lands, we can put it to work. A concrete slab, a tiled floor or a masonry wall in the sun's winter path stores warmth through the day and gives it back slowly after dark, evening out the swings. This only holds when the mass is shaded in summer and balanced against the right amount of glass, so we tune the two together rather than reaching for more glass.

On a tight or overlooked block, light and privacy are one problem, not a trade-off. An internal courtyard, a high clerestory window, or a screen of battens can draw daylight and sky into the plan while holding the view back from neighbours. Borrowing light from above, where no one can look in, is a move we return to again and again.

Under BASIX and the seven-star standard now expected of new NSW homes, the glazing itself is tuned to each side rather than specified once for the whole house. If you are thinking about a new home or a renovation across Sydney or the coast, we would like to hear how the sun falls on your site. Start a conversation with Place.