North-facing is the ideal orientation for a home because it allows you to capture warming winter sun and maximise natural light. However, as vacant land becomes scarce, it can be harder to find a north-facing block, and what if your ideal block has spectacular views on the south side?
While a south-facing home poses some challenges, it is possible to use smart architectural and interior design techniques to increase natural light in the interior spaces of your home. Before you build or renovate, read these tips to ensure your south-facing home is not only drenched in natural light, but that it's warm in winter and cool in summer.
Wollongong has a warm temperate climate, making north orientation the most desirable option as it allows a balance between winter sun and summer shade.
In winter, the sun moves across the sky at a lower angle. This means that if your home's main living spaces, such as the living room and kitchen, where we spend the majority of our time, are oriented to the north, morning sun can easily penetrate and warm your home. Summer sun angles are more directly overhead. This means north-facing living areas receive plenty of natural light but avoid harsh, direct sunlight.
Living spaces set on the south side of a home won't receive any winter sun. This can make them dark and cold, driving up power bills for artificial lighting and heating in the winter months. However, there are a few techniques you can use within your home to make sure natural light reaches even the darkest corners. Let's look at these now.
Whether you are building a new house or renovating your existing home, there are several design factors to consider that will help you maximise natural light.
The strategic placement of windows helps reduce the need for artificial lighting during the day, improves passive solar heating, enables cross ventilation and determines how well indoor and outdoor spaces are connected. However, it's important to understand both the positive aspects and the drawbacks of window positioning throughout the seasons.
Large windows and glass doors on the south and east sides of your home will allow more light into those south-facing rooms. Raked ceilings can also help let in more light. South-facing windows will lose heat in winter unless they are protected with either double glazing or sturdy window treatments, but they can offer cooling summer breezes.
When using larger windows in north-facing rooms, you can use mirrors and other reflective surfaces to reflect light into other parts of the home, but these north-facing windows need to be shaded from direct sun in the summer months using architectural features like eaves.
An abundance of east and west-facing windows allows plenty of morning and afternoon sun in during the winter months and helps capture breezes in summer. However, you need to consider how you will provide shade to these windows to block early morning and late afternoon sun during the warmer months, or you risk making your home uncomfortable.
One of the most effective ways to instantly bring light into the darker, southern side of your home is with skylights and light tunnels. A skylight allows more than 3 times as much light into your home as a normal window of the same size. However, just as with windows, they require optimal placement to ensure they are not a source of heat gain in summer and heat loss in winter.
When considering skylights and light tunnels, you'll need to take the pitch of your roof into account, as well as the path and position of the sun for each season, to ensure you are not allowing sunlight (and therefore heat) in when it's not wanted.
There's little point in having large windows letting light stream into your home if it's blocked by internal walls. An open floor plan is the best solution when your main living areas are located on the southern side of your home, especially when combined with interior design techniques that help bounce light around.
Consider how you can best achieve this on your block. It may mean locating the bedrooms on one side and the living areas on the other, stepping your home down a sloped site, altering roof heights to separate pavilions or designing your home around a central courtyard.
Clerestory windows are a narrow row of windows placed closer to the roofline than traditional windows. Not only are they great for privacy, but they can also help bounce light deeper into your home.
Where you place them depends on the architecture of your home and the angle of your roof. Still, north-facing clerestory windows can allow northern light in during winter, and the use of external shading devices like eaves can block direct sunlight in the warmer months. It's important to note that sunlight that enters through these windows should improve thermal performance; otherwise, they won't offset the heat that's lost through them at night.
Good interior design will help amplify the available light in your home, helping it to feel brighter and warmer. Here are some of the most achievable ways to create light, bright living spaces.
Opting for a light colour scheme is not only on trend, it's also an easy way to brighten up a room because light colours reflect light rather than absorb it. Reflective surfaces like polished floors and light colours on benchtops can also help distribute light deeper into the interior spaces.
Use low, light-coloured furniture, cooler wall colours and open shelving to allow light to pass through into the rest of your home.
Mirrors placed directly across from windows can bounce light back into living areas where it's needed the most. Mirrors positioned next to windows reflect light at different angles and also make your space feel as though it has twice as many windows.
Using mirrors to diffuse light is especially effective in dark spaces like hallways, where you can borrow light from nearby openings, or in rooms with small windows to get rid of shadowy areas.
While heavy curtains can help to keep south-facing rooms warmer, you don't want to always have them closed. Using sheer curtains or blinds not only helps cover cold glass but can help maintain privacy without losing light.
Sheer window treatments also diffuse direct sunlight, helping to cut the glare and scatter sunlight throughout a room, but always opt for light colours for maximum effectiveness.
The importance of landscaping is often overlooked. However, it's just as important as window placement when it comes to maximising natural light within a home. Here are some things to consider with south-facing blocks.
By using smart architectural techniques and interior design tricks to maximise natural light within your south-facing home, you will be more comfortable all year round. When you design your home for passive heating by capturing the most direct sunlight possible in winter and adopt a layout that maximises natural light, your home will be more cost-effective to run with lower energy bills.
Building or renovating a home is a significant investment for anyone, so it makes sense to design it for energy efficiency now and into the future.
South-facing homes come with unique challenges. Without direct winter sunlight, living areas may feel darker, colder and more reliant on artificial lighting and heating, which increases energy bills.
Rooms on the southern side can also be less inviting, especially during cooler months, and poor design choices may worsen these issues. Limited natural warmth and light make it essential to think strategically about window placement, interior design, and landscaping before you start building or renovating.
Don't let a challenge like a south-facing block spoil your dream home plans. With the right building team, you can craft a home that not only suits your lifestyle but also works with the most positive aspects of your land.
A Class Building and Construction specialises in sustainable, luxurious homes in the Illawarra region. No matter what building challenge you're facing, we can work with you to create the home of your dreams.
Give us a call today on 0414 183 503 or visit our website to learn more about our 100% satisfaction guarantee.
To get more light into a south-facing house, use double-glazed windows on the southern side, increase the number of north-facing windows, and consider skylights or light tunnels. Reflective surfaces inside the home, such as mirrors and light-coloured finishes, also help bounce light around.
Make a south-facing room brighter by choosing light-coloured paint, furnishings and flooring to reflect light rather than absorb it. Mirrors and sheer window treatments can also help diffuse and spread available light.
Living areas should ideally be north-facing, where they can capture the warming winter sun while avoiding harsh summer rays.
South-facing windows don't receive direct sunlight in winter, but they still play a crucial role in letting light into a room.
