open concept with view to water
We all love windows. If a house is a body then the windows and doors are the facial features that give a building its personality to the outside world.
Window and door placement has a profound effect on a home. Most obviously, they define the relationship of the interior space to the exterior space. They can focus our attention on a nearby garden feature or distant mountain or purposely NOT look at a telephone pole.
For me these natural light sources also act as guide posts. A window or a door with glass can draw us through spaces in ways that make sense for how that interior space should be used. For example placing windows and doors in certain relationships can define “hallways” that are a part of rooms or help to define the way it which a rooms furnishings can be placed.
It is not just widow location that has an impact. A windows vertical placement can have a profound effect on our experience of an interior space. A dining room that has a busy street front as its view might want to have a window set high enough to let in light for a person sitting down but not be so low as to let a passing pedestrian see in.
In the example above I created an open living room / entry feel but defined the living room entry by creating and interior “window”. No glass but it is the same layout as the windows in the distance. The intent is to focus on / dramatize the view, create a feeling of drama in the entry and intimacy in the living room. Looking back the other direction through these arches they are centred on the front door and sidelights ( again with a similar window layout ).
walls that focus the veiw corridor