When it comes to residential building design, many different factors have to be taken into account, including usability, safety and longevity. The building needs to be designed with a purpose depending on its occupants and their needs and it is crucial to integrate natural light wherever possible. However, this is not always at the top of the list when it comes to building design, and if it's not addressed correctly, it can sometimes ruin the finished effect. How can you make sure that natural light is incorporated into your plans if you are at the early stages of a design project?

Convention

Most people take windows for granted and simply expect them to be added to any particular room design. Yet little thought may be put into the actual size or placement of these windows, and a conventional approach may be taken instead. This means that they may be situated in the wrong place or may simply not take advantage of the best natural light. Time should be taken to think through the design of each room, before any such decisions are made.

Functionality

If the wrong decisions are made and the room is finished off without further thought, then this may have a significant impact on the final occupants. They may find that the room is simply too hot or too bright. On the other hand, the room may be quite depressing if it is always dark. It doesn't matter how amazing the actual space may be from a design perspective — if it is ruined by a lack of natural light, then its functionality is lost.

Practicality

Therefore, it is important to think about the size of each window and its placement in order to maximise the space and take account of its purpose. For example, some windows may need to be placed very high in order to allow the maximum amount of daylight to flood into a space. In this case, the house may be surrounded by smaller buildings or trees that block out any low-level light, so placing windows higher on the walls may be a way of getting around that problem.

Accentuation

It may also be a good idea to mount these windows at a certain angle so that they direct sunlight into a particular part of the room. This may help to accentuate certain features, whether inside or outside the building.

Other Factors

Don't forget to take into account the position of the sun in relation to that room at every part of the day. This will help you to decide where to place those windows. After all, if this room is intended to be a breakfast nook, then you should make sure that you capture the early morning sun as much as possible.