How the weather affects design

When designing houses I encourage the client to keep a scrapbook of images they like from house magazines and books.  I think this focuses the mind on what they are looking for in a home.  As the design process progresses the images are often removed and replaced by other pictures as their ideas mature and develop. I also show clients photos of past projects and this one of sliding folding doors opening onto a terraced area from a kitchen elicits the most positive response!  There is something about the way the wall is removed and the outside merges with the inside that strikes a chord with so many people.

Our climate is such that for much of the year and for long periods we are enclosed within the confines of our homes...our environment within our homes is largely defined by the need to keep the outdoors at bay.  The pleasure of looking through a window at the view is all the more acute because we are not experiencing the cold air, or indeed getting damp and cold.  We enjoy and appreciate the immediate outside environment because of the fact we view it from our own world and are surrounded by our chosen possessions and artefacts.  At night when the curtains are drawn we fully withdraw to our refuge.

In the Netherlands a tradition exists of leaving the curtains open to the windows of the main living room, if it faces onto a public street.  Passers-by can look into the house and enjoy the display of furniture and ornaments.  It may seem odd but perhaps we should think of this as just a different way of presenting yourself and your home, to the way the traditional parlour in this country was used in Victorian times as a formal room to present yourself, rather than a private family space.

But back to that disappearing wall created by those ‘bi-fold doors’!  Generally doors like this are located to open onto a private courtyard or paved terrace.  To work effectively this is important ...one needs to feel that the space outside is your own, as is the space inside.  In this way the outside becomes an extension of the house.  All the pleasures of the garden come into the house, the scent of the plants, the breeze, the sounds.  The house has grown to encompass the garden.  For me the real pleasure is not just the classic balmy summers day but those unexpected moments and hours when the outside can be invited in ...such as the crisp May morning or a mild October day.

To work effectively at night the garden or courtyard may need to be lit to allow it to continue to be seen and appreciated after dark.

It a very different approach to how we have traditionally considered spaces in our home, but it is now very much an option and can have a dramatic effect on not only the house but also the garden!