Construction Daylight and Orientation Questions Checklist

Photograph the plot from the same standing position early in the morning, in the middle of the day and in the evening, and note the time on each image.

A set of timed photographs is the most useful daylight information an owner can hand to a designer, and it takes one clear day to gather.

Mark on a sketch of the plot where the shadow of the boundary, the neighbouring buildings and any large tree falls at each of those times.

Shadow edges are what actually decide whether a terrace or a kitchen window catches light, and they move further than most people assume.

Note whether your observations were made in a bright period or a dull one, and record that the sun sits much lower at some times of the year than others.

A survey made in high summer flatters almost any plot, and a designer needs to know when you looked.

Write down which direction each boundary faces in plain terms, using a compass on a phone, and note that what a direction means for light depends on where you live.

Advice written for one part of the world is often repeated in another, so it is worth stating your own observations rather than borrowing rules.

If a building already stands here, note which existing rooms get direct sun and at what time, and which never seem to brighten at all.

Lived experience of the current building is evidence about the plot that no drawing can replace.

Observe which side of the plot takes the driving rain and wind, since that often differs from the side the sun reaches and both affect where openings sit.

Owners plan for light and are then surprised that the same elevation is the exposed one.

Write down where the household is early in the morning, whether that is a kitchen, a breakfast table, a bathroom or a room used before leaving.

Morning light is worth allocating deliberately, because a kitchen that is dark at breakfast is felt every single morning.

Note where people gather in the evening and whether you value the last of the daylight there or would rather have shade at that time.

Households differ genuinely on this, and it is one of the few daylight questions only the occupants can answer.

Record where anyone works at a screen, and whether they would be facing a bright window or have light falling across the display.

Glare on a screen is the most common complaint in a newly built study, and the fix at planning stage is simply a different wall.

Consider whether the sleepers in each bedroom want early light or darkness, and note it per person rather than as a single household preference.

Shift patterns and young children make this individual, and it is a real input into which bedroom goes where.

List the rooms that can reasonably sit away from daylight, such as stores, a plant space, a utility area or a shower room, and note which you would still prefer to have a window.

Being explicit about what can go in the dark centre of a plan gives the designer room to give daylight where it counts.

Note where you would want to sit outside and at what time, since the sunlit part of the garden and the sunlit part of the house are often on opposite sides.

This tension surfaces late unless it is written down, and it usually shapes where the main opening goes.

Note the neighbouring buildings that stand close to your boundaries and roughly how much higher or lower they are than the ground you are building on.

Nearby buildings shape both direct sun and the general brightness of a room, and their relative height matters more than their distance alone.

Record which nearby trees keep their leaves through the winter and which do not, and photograph them in the state they are in when you look.

A bare tree in a winter photograph looks harmless and can be a solid green wall in the summer.

Ask the local authority whether any tree on or beside the plot is subject to protection before assuming that light could be gained by reducing it.

Whether a tree may be reduced at all is for the local authority to say; confirm that before any expectation of extra light is built into a design.

Note the height of boundary walls, fences and hedges relative to a person standing, and whether any of them could be adjusted by agreement.

Ground floor rooms and terraces are often shaded by boundaries rather than by buildings, and this is easy to overlook.

Consider whether any adjacent land looks likely to be built on or extended, and treat what could happen there as a question rather than an assumption.

A view of sky over a low neighbour is not a permanent feature, and planning around it carries a risk worth naming.

What may be built on neighbouring land is a matter for the local authority and a suitably qualified adviser; nothing on this page can predict it.

Observe whether the ground rises on any side of the plot, and note how the rise compares with the height of a person standing at the boundary.

Rising ground shortens the sky visible from lower rooms and is frequently missed when a plan is drawn flat.

Mark on any draft plan the rooms that would have windows on one side only, and note how far the back of each of those rooms sits from its window.

A room lit from one end grows dim towards the back, and recognising it early is far easier than fixing it afterwards.

Where rooms are combined into one large space, note which corner would be furthest from any window and what you intend to do there.

Open plan arrangements often produce a dark corner that ends up holding the dining table nobody wants to sit at.

Write down which circulation spaces would have no window at all, and whether you would be content for lights to be on in them during the day.

Windowless corridors are accepted at plan stage and disliked in use, so it is worth deciding consciously.

Ask your designer about light borrowed from one space into another through internal glazing or a gap above a partition, and note where you would accept it.

Borrowed light brings sound and privacy trade-offs with it, which is why it belongs in a conversation rather than a decision.

Note where a roof opening might be the only realistic source of daylight, and record it as a question about what the roof and structure allow.

Whether the roof structure and construction can accommodate an opening is a question for a suitably qualified professional.

Consider whether light could come down through the stairwell from above, and note whether you would want to see the sky from the lowest landing.

A stair is often the deepest part of a plan and also the one place where light from above can travel.

For each main window, write down whether it is there for daylight, for a view, for ventilation, for escape or for the appearance of the elevation.

These purposes pull the same window in different directions, and stating the priority prevents an unsatisfying compromise.

Note that light travelling into a room comes mostly from the upper part of a window, and record where you would accept a high opening rather than a low one.

Owners tend to ask for wider windows when a higher head would do more for the darkness at the back of the room.

Consider what you would see from a seated position at each window, since a view of a fence or a neighbour wall is a different proposition from a view of sky.

Standing views and seated views differ, and most time in a room is spent sitting.

Write down where beds, worktops, sofas and radiators would sit relative to each window, since these often conflict with a window taken down to the floor.

A window that leaves no wall to place furniture against constrains the room in ways that only appear once you move in.

Record which windows would look towards a neighbour window or a public footpath, and note where you would accept obscured glass or a higher opening.

Privacy resolved at plan stage avoids the permanent blind that cancels the daylight you paid attention to.

Ask which windows are expected to serve any purpose beyond daylight, such as ventilation or escape, and record the answer rather than deciding it yourself.

Which windows have to open, and what they have to do beyond letting in light, is for a suitably qualified professional to confirm against the relevant local requirements.

Decide and record which side of the plot you would want the main living rooms to face, and what you would give up elsewhere to achieve it.

Every rotation gives something up on another elevation, so the trade needs to be owned rather than discovered late.

Note where the entrance has to be for practical reasons, such as the road or the parking, and whether that conflicts with where you want the light.

The entrance often fixes the plan more firmly than daylight does, which is worth acknowledging early.

Write down which part of the outside space you want the building to open onto, and whether that part is the sunlit one at the times you would use it.

Buildings are often opened towards the largest area of garden rather than the pleasant one.

Record any case where the direction of the pleasant view and the direction of the light are not the same, since this is a decision only you can make.

Designers can resolve this in several ways, but they need to know which of the two you would sacrifice.

Consider which neighbour windows and gardens your proposal would face, and note this as something to raise with your designer and the local authority.

Effects on neighbouring daylight, privacy and outlook are assessed by the local authority and suitably qualified professionals, not estimated by an owner.

Note where any part of the proposal would stand taller than what is there now, and which of your own windows would end up looking at it.

Projects regularly shade their own existing rooms, and the loss is only obvious once it is drawn.

Note which rooms you would expect to need lights on during an overcast day, and whether that would trouble you or simply be accepted.

Being honest here avoids designing an expanse of glass to solve a problem that a lamp solves better.

Write down where you need light for a specific task, such as a worktop, a desk, a mirror or a stair, as distinct from general room lighting.

Task positions are what make a lighting layout useful, and they are easier to identify from the way you live than from a plan.

Record the routes you walk in the dark, such as from bed to bathroom or from car to entrance, and where you would want to be able to switch lights.

Switch positions are settled quickly on site unless the owner has already thought about the journeys through the building.

Note which rooms you picture with a dark ceiling or dark upper walls, and raise with your designer what that does to light thrown upwards from a fitting.

Electric light in most rooms is partly bounced off the upper surfaces, so this is worth raising while the lighting layout is still a conversation.

Note where you would want to vary the level of light through the evening, and raise it while wiring is still being discussed rather than afterwards.

Control arrangements affect what is installed behind the wall, so the conversation has a moment when it is easy.

Write down whether light from your windows or external fittings would fall on a neighbour window or garden once the building is occupied.

Light spilling outwards at night is a genuine source of neighbour friction and is rarely considered at design stage.