How To Maximise Daylight In My Home Extension
When embarking on a new extension project for your home, maximising daylight should be at the top of your priority list. Incorporating large windows, glass doors, and skylights is essential to flood the space with natural light. Its our job to consider the orientation of the extension to capture the most sun throughout the day, whilst reducing any glare.
Vaulted Ceilings
Vaulted ceilings can make a room appear larger and brighter while also creating a sense of grandeur, making a room feel more open and expansive. This combined with the addition of rooflights brings in an abundance of natural light, accentuating the beauty of the vaulted design and creating a bright and airy atmosphere. There are practical benefits to this as well, the incorporation of rooflights allows for efficient passive solar heating and natural ventilation, reducing the need for artificial lighting and aiding in energy conservation. Whether in a residential or commercial setting, vaulted ceilings with rooflights are a captivating feature that elevates the overall aesthetics and functionality of the space.
Flush Rooflights
If a flat-roofed extension is more to your style, flush rooflights are a contemporary and sleek addition to any dream extension. Flush rooflights allow natural light to flood into the space below, greatly enhancing the brightness and openness of the interior. With slim frames and minimalistic profiles, these rooflights add a touch of elegance and modernity to any home. Whether installed in a kitchen, living room, or office, flush rooflights provide a sense of connectivity between the indoors and outdoors, while also providing space definition - a rooflight over a dining table can be really special.
Borrowed Light & Clerestorey Windows
A clerestory window sits along the top of a wall, usually near the roof line. They draw the eye to the heavens above, so it’s perhaps not surprising they are an architectural feature in many cathedrals. Given the most intense light comes from the highest angle, clerestory windows can filter shafts of light down into a spacious interior while maintaining privacy. In a contemporary home, rows of clerestory windows can be used to give the illusion that the roof hovers about the house, creating a light, modern aesthetic.
Stairwells with clerestory windows and/or a rooflight is one of the most dramatic ways of borrowing light from above. It allows daylight to flow down into the centre of the home to the hallway that might otherwise be underlit and full of shadows with no access to the outside.
On a more modest scale, a glazed internal door is one of the simplest ways of borrowing light from an adjacent room. In places where windows aren’t feasible, for example in a basement conversion, a sun pipe, also known as a light tunnel, can be a great solution for poaching natural light from above as can opaque walk-over glazing.
Open tread staircases
The staircase can play a major role in the way light flows through a home, though it is often an overlooked architectural feature. Choosing an open tread staircase whether rising or spiral will allow light to filter through an open plan interior and give a more spacious feel, especially when combined with glass panel balustrades. Don’t forget choice your choice of finish- Light coloured walls and floors and reflective surfaces can help to brighten a room with low levels of natural light as can mirrors.
Interior design choices
Other ways to make best use of the light is to utilise light-coloured walls, floors, and furniture to reflect and amplify the sunlight streaming into the room. Opting for window placements and treatments that allow for privacy without completely blocking out the light, such setting back the window from the build line, can give the best of both worlds. Lastly, thoughtful placement of mirrors can help bounce light around the space, creating an illusion of a larger, brighter room. By carefully planning and implementing these strategies, you can transform your new build extension into a sunlit sanctuary.
