Light is specified with the wall, not added after the openings are fixed. A shutter, a lining and a sill are building elements. So is the hour they are designed for.
An opening is a cut
Drawings that treat windows as elevations miss the work. An opening is a cut in a wall that has a depth, a head and a way of taking weather.
The light that arrives through it changes by the hour and by the season. If you do not name the hour, you are decorating with glass.
Survey the hour
In the studio a typical interior begins with a survey of existing light. We sit in the room at two times of day and note where the sun actually falls, not where a diagram says it should.
West light on a table is a different problem from north light on a wall. One needs a shutter. The other needs a pale lining and patience.
Shutter and sill
Shutters are designed as part of the opening, not as hardware. A timber leaf cut to the reveal can take the afternoon down to a band without darkening the room.
A deep sill can hold the cut and give the wall a thickness you can sit on. These are cheap decisions if they are taken with the structure. They are expensive if they are asked for after the frame is closed.
Artificial light
Artificial light follows the same rule. We do not scatter points across a ceiling to make a grid. A room usually needs one good light for work and a lower light for the evening.
On a gallery we kept the roof lights and added a linen baffle. The art is seen in a light that moves. The room does not compete.
More glass
Clients sometimes ask for more glass. More glass is not more light. It is more heat, more reflection and a thinner wall. We would rather one well-cut opening than a façade that has given up.
Light in section
We record light in section, not only in plan. A plan will show you the window. A section will show you the pool on the floor at four in the afternoon. The last pass before tender is a light pass.
