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| Home complete. The shadows evident on the front facing south side All the sun reserved for the living areas |
What sort of home does a builder build for himself?
This project was a great opportunity to reorient the clients 'sketch' inside out to take advantage of a northern aspect. I was presented with a sketch design of a very typical home that tucked itself away from the winter sun and huddled up to the side fence facing south east. This would mean a cold damp outdoor and living area through the winter. A rectangular corner block, with north at 45 degrees across one of the street frontages which was rising above the lot it did present some challenge but planning the house at that 45 degrees to the square block, while not neat does present a wonderful opportunity to take in the winter sun with large tall living room windows and creates interesting outdoor living areas and solutions.
This next image has the sun set to 12 o'clock midday June 21st, the designated middle of winter and it shows the deep penetration of the winter sun into the living areas. When you orient your house correctly you will reduce the need for artificial heating and cooling because the design will passively work for you.
Conversely in the summer, the sun will be high in the sky and the simple eave will prevent the entry of any sun into the windows facing directly north all day and prevent that same sun from heating the house keeping it cooler. Positioning the right windows in the best location will also allow the local sea breeze to cool the house as quickly as possible.
We did explore different colour schemes so it will be interesting to see how it all comes out in the final build
And it is happening.
