The presence of natural light in buildings is of profound importance to how one feels and uses spaces within that building. Light and the shadows associated with that light allow the occupant a chance to view the changes that take place during the day, witness the differing qualities of light and shadow and how they play across a room as day turns to night. Allowing natural light into a living space allows us to live more closely in tune with the natural rhythms of the universe while adding the benefit of positive mental attitude, enhanced productivity and a sense of well being. Watching how light changes with the passing hours or the shifting seasons gives you the sense that you are not just watching the natural world, but that you are a part of it.

Light can act as an organizing feature in a home. It can draw you forward, through the building, towards a destination view. Light can be playful, bold, artistic; it can be calming, soothing and gentle. Light can also provide a natural source of human energy and its strong rays enliven your daily activities.

We can control natural light by how a building is oriented on its site and how the windows are placed. The orientation of a house on its site has a greater effect on our feeling of comfort than any other planning activity, as it provides the opportunity to use the light to its best advantage and control its impacts based upon the climate and environment in which one lives. Sunlight can offer warmth and brighten your days in the cold winter months, but relentless light, for instance, deprives a space of the depth of meaning that arises out of shadow and depth. Shade and shadow offer up a cooling respite from the heat of the day while cool north or filtered light provides adequate natural lighting for conducting the various activities of the home.

It is important to balance the natural light by designing rooms so that they receive light from two sides of a room.   Most often this can be accomplished by how rooms are placed within the orientation of the building on the site and their usage by a family. Sometimes the light from a second side of a room is "borrowed" from a hallway or other room; sometimes the second source of light comes from a skylight.   It is this balance that provides the quality of light and the ability for light to play across a room, offering up nuance and visual interest.

In all climates, solar orientation is key to a comfortable, well-lit and energy efficient home. Particularly here in the Midwest, laying out the floor plan of a home with the long axis at east and west so that the important living spaces are open to access to south light, is key. In Winter, the solar gain not only provides a sense of well-being but, depending on choices made by the homeowner, that solar gain can also provide cost-savings and a reduction of your carbon footprint. In summer, that intense Southern sun requires some control to keep it from over-heating the living spaces. Such control is done naturally through the installation of shading devices such as deep overhangs or pergolas. Control also comes by the planting of deciduous trees to shade the south side in summer while allowing that sun to pour in during the winter.

We like to place "early morning activities" such as waking, bathing, breakfasting on the east side. In summer the east is cooler and less attention to shading is required. The west side of house, then, is set for gazing at summer sunsets. This however, needs also to be managed to control the intense heat of the late summer sun. Again, the use of landscape elements and design elements such as window treatments, awnings, shades, roofs and louvers help to control that light while still allowing the quiet enjoyment of it.

North light provides no solar gain, but does provide steady even light, particularly great for artists studios or home office settings. In cold climates, care must be taken not to expose too much living space to that north light as the cold will infiltrate; using smaller windows and skylights as well as placing the "working" areas of the home to the north (storage, laundry, mudrooms, etc.) helps alleviate that concern.

So much of the charm, character and attractiveness of a home is associated with window placement.   One must be mindful of orientation, exposure, uses of individual spaces as well as how the windows relate both on the interior and on the exterior. How many times have you seen a house in which the windows looked like an odd assortment of salvaged windows - their shape and size incongruent and oddly placed - this is a sign that the designer was paying attention only to how those windows looked on the inside, but not on the outside. Architects are trained to think spatially and artistically at the same time so that there is no incongruence, working from both the inside and the outside with window placement to capture views and provide balanced natural light. The end result is windows that are located in such a way as to provide pleasing proportion and balance, inside and out.

Additionally, your Architect knows how to assess the site, place the new house appropriately to capture not just the light but the views, the traffic pattern and the path of least resistance in terms of excavating.   In this regard, Pattern Four, "Capturing Light" plays well with Pattern One "Inhabiting the Site".