Beachside town house takes the North facing advantage

Taking up a sweet spot on a sleepy country beachside town lot, previously subdivided and live on by the owner, this final home is to occupy the corner portion with it's north facing side boundary taking in it's own courtyard.  A balcony to the street will enjoy the upper floor views down the street to the waters edge. The balcony also give greater protection to the street facing glass areas from the low eastern morning sun.

 With the desire to elongate the north facing axis and in order to satisfy the planning regulations, the front door must face the side street to reduce the setbacks to the street boundary but the side is precious private outdoor space so by simply bringing the front entry out and putting the door to the side we achieve satisfaction of 'the rules' and still keep the door to the main street along with the garage. 

Many people now understand that the living areas should preferably be facing north, but a mistake that is often made is the Alfresco is placed on the north side blocking the low warm winter sun from entering the home via the large northern facing windows.  Alfresco's are ideal on the west or east elevation which help shade the home from the low summer sun which is more difficult to control without loosing the view.  In this situation however the depth of the lot prevents such a placement and, having to place it on the North side, I was anxious to allow in the winter sun through the Alfresco roof in winter. 

These two images are rendered at different times of the year.  The first in the middle of summer show the advantage of a wall that directly faces north.  With a standard eave width, the sun is prevented from entering the home even though there are large windows facing north.  The second image shows the same elevation in mid winter and because the sun is much further North in the sky, the low angle allows fantastic penetration of warm sunshine. You can see my concern with the Alfresco blocking that sunshine which is why we are exploring a roof that allows sun penetration in winter.  There are variable ways to achieve this with varying levels of sophistication, expense and convenience.  The deep penetration of sun into the dining area is illustrative.  A dining area is ideal to receive this sun because it generally exposes more floor area without furniture.  A hard surface like tile or slate will store heat energy during the day and give it off during the evening resulting in a more comfortable home that requires less heating.

A well designed home can help reduce those energy bills even without the higher costs of using solar or PV systems.  Careful design and placement of windows and eaves can significantly affect the overall comfort.