Photo Darren Chung
Architects talk about little else other than space and light. Yes, we may get obsessed by materials, finishes and detailing, but our core passion is the creation and manipulation of habitable space and how that space is illuminated by light, whether natural or artificial. Light is one of the greatest tools an architect has available to transform a dark, ordinary house into something truly amazing.
In order to be able to harness light and increase the levels of natural light coming into your home you need to understand the way your house is orientated. It will affect how you make any changes to your internal space and it will help you decide where best to position any new window openings or skylights. I’m still amazed by how many people don’t know which way their home faces. Although, I did have one client who re-planned her entire, newlypurchased house because she didn’t want her master bedroom suite to face east. To this day I’ve no idea why this was. I like the idea of being woken up by the rising sun, but she wasn’t keen and we flipped around the entire house so her bedroom faced west and instead enjoyed seeing the setting sun.