"You put a big window on the south side, but the curtains are always closed"—does that window have any meaning? The true brightness that only homes that have abandoned the 'South Window Faith' can achieve
In meetings about building a house, almost everyone says this:
"Please put a large window on the south side."
In Japan, the value system that "south-facing = bright = good house" is deeply rooted. Even in real estate, south-facing rooms are expensive, and north-facing ones are cheap. That is why both clients and designers line up large sliding windows on the south side.
But are you really living with those windows "open"?
In my experience involving over 7,000 homes, I have seen hundreds of houses where the lace curtains on the large south window are kept closed 365 days a year.
If the house faces a south road, the south window faces the street. Passersby can see into the room. People from the house across the street can peek in. That is why people close the lace curtains.
The light coming through lace curtains is in a state where direct sunlight is diffused, resulting in a 'dimly bright' state. This is almost no different from the stable diffused light that enters from a north-facing window.This is almost no different from the stable diffused light that enters from a north-facing window.
In other words, a south window with curtains kept closed provides no more brightness than a north window. Moreover, a south window creates a large 'hole' in the exterior, solar heat gain in winter is blocked by curtains, and heat-shielding curtains are needed in summer. The result of spending money to install a large window is that it is blocked by curtains—this is the true nature of the 'South Window Faith.'
What we are analyzing this time is a residence exterior composed of deep horizontal eaves and the warmth of wood. Instead of lining up large windows on the south side, the wall surface is beautifully preserved, and openings are placed only where necessary.
For those who are convinced that 'a large window on the south' is the correct answer, please read this article and reconsider the placement of your windows.
7 things to check before installing a south window
Before installing a window on the south side, be sure to check the following:
1. What is on the south side? If there is a garden to the south and no buildings beyond it, a south window is perfect. But if there is a road to the south, there is the gaze of passersby, and if there is a neighboring house, the lines of sight between windows will collide. It is not 'South = Bright,' but 'What is to the south' that comes first.
2. Check the window positions of neighboring houses. If there is a window on the north side of the house to your south, your south window will 'make eye contact' with it. You will both end up closing your curtains, and both houses will become dark.
3. Check the line of sight from the road. If it is a south road, the south window will be completely visible from the street. Even if you install a sliding window in the first-floor living room, if you keep the curtains closed, the value of that window is halved.
4. Whether you will use the garden. If you live a life where you go out into the garden from a sliding window, a south window has value. But if you don't use the garden, there is no need for it to be a sliding window. Using high windows or fixed windows to bring in only light can protect both the exterior appearance and your privacy.
5. Can you block solar radiation with eaves or awnings? A large south window lets a massive amount of solar radiation into the room in summer. Without eaves, the summer living/dining/kitchen area will become a 'greenhouse.' If you are going to install a south window, planning it as a set with eaves extending 900mm or more is the ironclad rule.
6. Can you live with the curtains open? This is the most important question. A window where the curtains are kept closed has little meaning. Whether you make that window smaller, change its position, or make it a high window—'design that allows you to live without curtains' is true richness.
7. Do the windows line up beautifully on the exterior? If you line up two or three sliding windows on the south side, the exterior tends to become a 'wall full of holes.' If the wall surface is not preserved, the power of the 'plane' is lost, and the exterior becomes cluttered. Consider the beauty of the exterior and the lighting of the interior at the same time.
Another kind of brightness that appears when you remove the 'South Window Faith'
You can make a house bright even without a south-facing window. In fact, light from directions other than the south can sometimes be of 'better quality'.
Light from a north-facing window. Light entering from the north is not direct sunlight, but stable, diffused light. A uniform brightness continues all day long. It is not glaring. The shadows are soft. The reason artist studios face north is that this 'stable light' is the most beautiful.
Light from an east-facing window. Morning sun enters, and it is bright in the morning. Since direct sunlight does not enter in the afternoon, the living/dining/kitchen area does not get too hot. If you place an east-facing window in the dining room, you can eat in light that makes breakfast look its most beautiful.
Light from a high window (high-side light). A horizontal window is installed at the top of the wall. Because it is positioned higher than a person's line of sight, privacy is completely protected. Light enters from near the ceiling, making the entire room uniformly bright. If you install a high window on the south side, you can get southern light without curtains.
In this residence as well, windows on the facade are kept to a minimum. Because light is brought in from the sides, high windows, and openings facing the garden, the exterior remains orderly while the interior is sufficiently bright.
Color design of a 'residence that protects its wall surfaces' read through Munsell values
We will break down the colors of this residence using Munsell values. It is a design that only works because the south-facing windows were reduced and the wall surfaces were protected.
Greige (large exterior wall surface, approx. 45% of total): 10YR 7/1 to 7/2
About half of the exterior wall is this greige. 10YR is a slight warm color in the yellow-red range. A lightness of 7 is bright, and a chroma of 1 to 2 is almost gray.
This large surface functions as the 'face' of the building. If windows were lined up on the south side, this large surface would not exist. Because the wall surface remains, the color of the light changes between morning and evening, and the shape of the shadows changes—the wall as a 'moving decoration' is realized.
The 10YR-based warm gray is less prone to showing dirt than pure white and is easier to harmonize with the warm colors of wood. It is a color gamut that will continue to look beautiful even 10 years from now.
Wood (eaves soffit, handrails, privacy screens, approx. 25% of total): 7.5YR 4/3
Wood accounts for one-quarter of the total. The point is that everything is placed in 'places where people get close'.
Eaves soffit—the surface you see when you look up overhead. Balcony handrail—the place where the signs of life on the second floor are conveyed to the outside. Privacy fence—the boundary you touch first from the road.
By concentrating wood in 'parts close to human experience,' the large gray surface does not become cold, resulting in a 'quiet but warm home'.
Dark gray to black (roof, shadows, depth of openings, approx. 20% of total): N2 to N3
Under the deep eaves, it is dark. By having this 'band of shadow' extend horizontally, depth is created in the building.
If you line up large windows on the south side, this 'band of shadow' is interrupted by the windows. Because the wall surfaces were protected and the windows were narrowed, the shadow does not break and runs as 'one single band'. This band makes the building look long horizontally and creates a sense of a grand residence.
What a home that has stopped using 'large windows to the south' gains
When you let go of the cult of the south-facing window, you gain the following at the same time.
The exterior looks polished. Large wall surfaces remain, creating expression through color and shadow. It looks far more high-quality than an exterior covered in windows.
Privacy is maintained. You can live with the curtains open. Even if you let your children play in the yard, they cannot be seen from the road.
Heating and cooling costs decrease. Windows lose heat 4 to 7 times faster than walls. Simply reducing the number of windows improves airtightness and insulation performance.
Furniture looks better. When wall space remains, it creates a 'background' for furniture and art. You cannot place furniture or art on a wall covered in windows.
8 principles that make this space work
1. 'Large windows on the south' depend on the conditions. Check what is on the south side first. A window that is always kept covered by curtains has little purpose.
2. Light can be sufficiently obtained from the north, east, or high windows. Diffused light from the north is stable and beautiful. The morning sun from the east is perfect for a dining room. High windows provide both privacy and natural light.
3. Protecting wall surfaces polishes the exterior. The fewer windows you have, the more wall 'surface' remains, allowing expression through color and shadow.
4. Large surfaces of greige (10YR 7/1–7/2) create a sense of a grand residence. A light, warm-toned gray is resistant to dirt and harmonizes with wood.
5. Concentrate wood in 'places close to human experience.' Eaves, handrails, privacy screens—when wood is in places people touch, the entire house feels warm.
6. A 'band of shadow' from deep eaves makes the building look horizontally long. Because there are wall surfaces not interrupted by windows, the shadow runs as a single band.
7. Organize colors into three tones. 45% greige + 25% wood + 20% black. The fewer the colors, the more the power of the wall surface stands out.
8. Align the horizontal lines of the exterior with the lines of the building. The joints of large slabs echo the eaves line of the building, turning the entire site into a single design.
Candidate materials you can actually use
1. For a greige exterior wall (plastered wall): Aica Kogyo 'Jolipad Alpha JP-100'. A plastered wall with high surface purity that maximizes the beauty of large surfaces with fewer windows. → https://www.aica.co.jp/
2. For black roof (contour lines): IG Kogyo 'Super Galtect' SGT1-706 (S Shade Black). A thin metal roof that sharpens the horizontal lines of deep eaves. → https://www.igkogyo.co.jp/
3. For large-format exterior paving: Toyo Kogyo 'Praga Stone' PS-S. A large-format stone look that extends the building's horizontal lines into the ground. → https://www.toyo-kogyo.co.jp/
3 points to check
1. Check 'what is' in front of the south window. Roads, neighboring houses, fences, gardens—the value of a window changes completely based on the situation on the south side. Not 'a large window because it's south,' but 'this window because of what is on the south.'
2. Ask the designer, 'Is this a window I can live with open?' 'Can I live with this window without curtains?' Just being able to ask this question improves the precision of window design.
3. Request a daylighting simulation. If you are worried that "won't it get dark if I reduce the south windows?", ask your designer to provide a daylighting simulation. It is not rare for a single high window to make a room surprisingly bright.
When you become free from the "south-facing faith," your home becomes beautiful.
"If there isn't a large window on the south side, it will be dark." —I can understand this anxiety. But that is an anxiety from back when you didn't know about high windows, floor windows, or north windows.
There are ways to capture light other than just south-facing sliding windows. The stable light from the north. The morning sun from the east. The skylight from high windows. Without obsessing over the direction, choose "windows that you can live with the curtains open."
That decision will tidy up the exterior, protect your privacy, lower heating and cooling costs, and create wall space where furniture looks great.
Are the curtains open on your south window? If they are always closed, that window is worth reconsidering.
Architectural Consultant Koike | Amigo Housing Seminar
Drawing from 27 years and over 7,000 housing consultations, I deliver a "discerning eye" and "words to convey."
I also accept individual consultations via my official LINE account.
▼ Click here for the Amigo Housing Seminar official LINE https://lin.ee/Sl1Cx1k
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