Home Sweet Home

Good daylight and sunlight are essential for living spaces. In cold and temperate climates, these rooms should be located on the sun-facing side of the building; spaces oriented within a 30° segment east and west of due south (north in the southern hemisphere) all have the advantage of midday sun, particularly valuable when this is low in winter. Spaces facing east catch the morning sun and are ideal for bedrooms and breakfast rooms, while those facing west avoid the hot noon sun and overheating and enjoy sunset views. A northerly aspect (southerly in the southern hemisphere) gives a constant and shadowless, cool light considered ideal for an artist’s studio (or a food larder). In hot, dry climates, living and sleeping spaces are conventionally shielded from the sun and either look on to cool, shaded courtyards or they are protected with wide verandahs and porches. Trees, climbing vines, large water surfaces, and softly playing fountains also help to disperse excessive heat. At the same time, winters can be extremely cold, and it is then vital that living spaces receive the uninterrupted warmth of midday winter sun. It would be helpful if you could move your living and sleeping spaces around as the seasons change, avoiding the sun in summer and taking advantage of it in winter - an unfortunate impossibility. In hot, humid areas, you should give priority to the prevailing winds so that living spaces can be located in the path of through- ventilation or cross-ventilation.

Front and back rooms

You must balance climatic considerations against other factors, such as the advantages and disadvantages of good views and your position in relation toexternal and internal sources of noise. Internally, the choice of suitable living spaces will usually alsodepend on the types of activity the rooms will have to accommodate. Conventionally, the main living space has been the “front room“, usually located on the ground floor. But for optimum balance between sun and daylight, peace and quiet and pleasantviews, a relocation of living space to theback of the house may be a better option. You might even consider an upstairs back room, away from traffic noise and pollution and where there is clearer light and finer views over the garden. Such a choice, however, may then conflict with the best place for sleeping spaces.

Much will depend on your lifestyle; many elderly and disabled people spend most of their time at home and would prefer a quiet living space at theback of the house overlooking the garden. The front room, facing the street, can be fitted with secondary double glazing to make it a quieter, warmer, and more secure sleeping space. Teenagers will appreciate a separate living room where they can make noise and entertain friends without too much interference from the rest of the family. In built-up areas, converted roof spaces can become green and welcome refuges from the pressures of urban life. Likewise, balconies and rooftop gardens can extend the feeling of being “on top of the world”.

The late 1980s have seen a revival of living areas combined with indoor gardens. Many new houses are designed with the living space adjacent to or extending into a greenspace. These types of structure can also be added to older houses; in Britain, the Victorian conservatory is enjoying renewed popularity and, in West Germany, the former Wintergarten is again incorporated into many homes. Like the sunspaces or solar greenhouses of North America, it is designed with optimum orientation to the sun and has built-in storage for solar heating. In Denmark, “green façades” of glassed-in balconies are added to city apartment blocks so that each unit has access to sun, growing space, and solar heating. Window greenhouses, that open from the inside, can be fitted to the outside of sunny windows and allow you to grow flowers, herbs, and even some food crops.

In the feng shui discipline, circles, squares, and rectangles make the best room shapes. The living or receiving room should be large and light, with the host’s chair in a “safe” position, facing the entrance (although not directly opposite it). Seating should be arranged for ease of conversation, and guests should have a commanding view of the room and the door; in less than ideal situations, mirrors can be used to reflect the entrance. Mirrors can also enhance the living space by drawing in views and light and making the room seem more spacious. They are also useful for hiding oddly shaped corners and discordant features. Fireplaces are warm and auspicious, but should not be obscured by furniture; round tables are fortuitous. Windows and doors that open outward improve the occupants’ ch’i and theirfortunes by allowing ch’i to spread beyond the house. A window/door relationship is like that of parent and child: the door, symbolic of the parent’s mouth, should be the more impressive or the child will be rebellious; if the window is the larger, it should be divided into smaller panes and a wind chime should be hung in the doorway so that the parent’s voice can be heard.

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