Tips for designing a south facing house

JulietJones

Hi there,
We are hoping to build a house in the near future and are currently in the process of trying to acquire a site. The most suitable one so far in terms of location, is a south facing site. To my mind it is not ideal as the garden will be north facing but it is almost 3/4 of an acre so should be a sizeable garden.
I am hoping to make a start on house plans that would suit this aspect and am currently gathering ideas. I wonder if anyone could share tips on the best way to design a house with this aspect to maximise on light.
It will either be a storey and half or a two story and we would like an open plan kitchen, living and dining room.
All tips and ideas or pointers to other information sources would be really greatly appreciated ( when I google the subject, I keep ending up with Indian websites and aspect is a whole different ball game in the southern hemisphere, I would imagine). Thanks in advance. Am so excited to get started on things.

Poor Uncle Tom

I don't mean to sound silly but the site itself will help design the house to be put on it and when it comes to that we are blind here in that we don't know what your site looks like, cross falls, blind spots, contours, prevailing winds, roads, existing landscaping, etc.

ShiverinEskimo

We have a south-facing site and it was designed in such a way to maximise solar gain by placing living and kitchen areas towards the front of the house with large floor to ceiling windows.

Our kitchen is actually dual-aspect with windows at front and rear of the house as we have decent enough views to the North.

We have a sun room to the west side of the house which will get light in the afternoons/evenings. The sun room will open onto a patio to the west also to maximise the benefit of summer evenings (assuming there's any actual sun which is a different story).

archtech

As Poor Uncle Tom says the site itself will assist in designing the house, particularly if you engage a good designer. its post likely that the utility and bathrooms will end up on the north (and back of the house) where most people are happy to have them.

heinbloed

The OP wrote:

All tips and ideas or pointers to other information sources would be really greatly appreciated ( when I google the subject, I keep ending up with Indian websites and aspect is a whole different ball game in the southern hemisphere, I would imagine).

So your site is in ..... Australia, South Africa?

L driver

Hello,
allow for solar gain in winter and overheating in summer in terms of glazing, go with 2 storey not dormer. Get a good arch, and design for passive or better.

Mellor

heinbloed wrote: »

The OP wrote:



So your site is in ..... Australia, South Africa?

What was the point of this post?
The OP clearly said google keep throwing up southern hemisphere sites, which are no good. It's quite obvious that they are looking for a south facing house for the northern hemisphere.

and OP, you are correct. Orientation in the southern hemisphere is very different. Basically its flipped over. Still rises in the east, but solar gains come from the north

L driver

Hello,
Perhaps tongue in cheek cos India in northern hemisphere? Sorry for poking my nose in.

Mellor

L driver wrote: »

Hello,
Perhaps tongue in cheek cos India in northern hemisphere? Sorry for poking my nose in.

A lot of people assume asian countires are in the southern hemisphere. When in reality very few are at all.
Not really helping the OP though, so back on topic please

rural_red

There are a variety of means of accessing sun when 'front' facing south. Obviously planners may have an issue with the large porportion of glazing on this aspect. They tend to like a large ratio of wall to glazing on the public face of the building. This is an issue that requires a good designer / architect to visit site so that they can sketch up a proposal as already mentioned. Theres no getting away from it I'm afraid.:o

Juantorena

Wrt large amounts of glazing to the front (South/road facing) side of the house...we have something similar. Couple of things to consider:

1. Regarding planning - have a pre-planning meeting with the planner giving an indication of the degree of glazing you are considering. Get feedback. Useful to bring along a written justification for same concentrating on solar-gain and the correspondent reduction in energy usage and also, if one exists, how the overall form of the building meets their design guidelines. If the proposed house is more 'modernist' in form and proportion - rather than the more 'traditional' - the planners may be more amenable to a divergence away from their glazing guidelines.

2. How large or busy a road would you be fronting onto? Planners may take this into account when considering the area and form of glazing you're proposing. Also how much does your privacy count to you and yours?

3. Consider a landscaping plan for the front which might address some of the above concerns. Planting (deciduous) which provides screening of the front of the house from the road - and therefore affording you some privacy if desired - but allowing sunlight into your living areas including during Winter and it's low sun. Consider shading though for the Summer!

Best of luck with your plans.

rural_red

I agree with Jaunterana. Thats the way to approach it. If the Local Authority are not accommodating you may have to try a few design tricks. I would stick the heels in as much as possible though as the energy saved through winter solar gain is priceless (or actually easy to price in increased heating bills)