Natural Light

On a gloomy north shore November afternoon it’s hard not to reflect on the importance of natural light in our homes and how it makes us feel. Natural light is likely the single most important factor that determines how a space is perceived and how a mood is created.

Architect Christopher Alexander states in his tome A Pattern Language: “If the right rooms are facing south, a house is bright and sunny and cheerful; if the wrong rooms are facing south, the house is dark and gloomy.”

We all know this but, for many reasons, often fail to act on it. The tenet is a simple one and if held onto without compromise will create light filled spaces that are desirable and a joy to be in.

The position of the sun in the sky is determined by the time of day, the season and the particular location of a property. In northern latitudes, facing south means facing the sun. It rises in the east and sets in the west. It’s obvious information that’s often forgotten or ignored when planning a home.

Rooms should always be organized to best take advantage of the natural light a site provides. This typically means maximizing southern exposure to one degree or another and often tends towards a structure stretching along an east-west axis. But since not every property will permit such a layout it’s essential from the get-go to understand the unique movement of the sun on your piece of land.

This might translate into an en-suite bathroom that basks in the warm glow of a morning sun or a breakfast nook that nudges out into a garden with full morning light. It can mean a home office that faces directly south to maximize its sun exposure throughout the day or a covered porch that catches the dying light of an evening sunset. In the end, the more we anticipate how natural light affects our layout, the more we move towards an optimal design for our homes.

Technology has given us the ability to create functioning spaces even when we ignore our natural environment but invariably something gets lost in the process. The intensity and spectrum of colour in sunlight can’t be matched by artificial light. We innately sense daily and seasonal changes through the light of the sun. The long, cool rays of a winter’s afternoon can never be confused with the sharp brilliance of a mid-summer day.

Everything seen in space is perceived and understood through the light that falls upon it.  The quality of this light adds to the comprehension of what we’re looking at and affects our feelings for it. It’s easy to see why natural light is an essential aspect of any well designed home.