ely
Member
Anyone seen any vertical external blinds around? I'd like them on our east and west windows, angled so that winter sun comes in but not summer sun. I'm sure they must exist but I don't know what to search for.
I'm not sure how aesthetically pleasing they will be, but trees for shade will take a few years!
Ely
thatmosis
Member
We had a look for some a couple of years ago but found they were very expensive. Our solution was to make large aluminium frames out of screen door material and instead of the usual flyscreen we used shade cloth. The frames can be painted to match the window frames and the shade cloth comes in various colours. They allow the light in but stop most of the heat. In winter we store them in the garage. Just a thought.
dymonite69
Member
In Sth QLD if you let in winter sun you would also let in 6 hours of the 14 hours of sun during December before you got shading.
the trick is to use the azimuth angle to determine the combination of blade spacing, blade length and blade angle on east /west facades .
the "blades" are referring to the individual screening devices which together shade the window.. so depending on how designed and built can be fixed or variable.
much like a vergola on edge .
I highly recommend the book .. " sun,wind and light" architectural design strategies by G.Z.Brown and Mark DeKay. It has many explanations, examples and line drawings in simple language.
ely
Member
Thanks guys,
Dymonite, I'm not sure why you say it would let 6 hours of sun in? If it's vertical and angled so that, say if you're facing the eastern window you can't see to the right/south east where the summer sun comes up, but you can see to the left/north east where the winter sun comes up?
I do plan to have some shading at the top of the window.
Thanks Dave, I'll see if my library has that book.
Ely
got a link for him ?
dymonite69
Member
Oh. I see what you mean. Shade by azimuth not by altitude. Good lateral thinking. Except that you lose your view looking back.
you do lose some view, it is true .
what most people conveniently forget is that the more expansive the view is (looks great in photos for magazines) the more exposed a site is and thus ,depending on the climate, it will be a less comfortable space to BE in .
Panoramic views are fantastic when you are on holiday, but most of us totally take them for granted when living with them. some view is great of course but personally I like to feel comfortable ,Not sitting in a howling wind.
Of the 5 senses , an extraordinary bias is given toward the "visual" and not much toward the sense of "feeling/ touching " or "hearing" or "smelling"
dymonite69
Member
That's our problem at the moment. We are trying to grow a low hedge that gives wind break but not enough to block view or solar access. I have also seen where a succession of hedgerows can help direct wind up and over the house or deflect and funnel it away.
the endless dilemma ... view vs. protection
another way of looking at it is to make the hedge the view ...
and then make an effort to walk beyond the hedge to see the real view ..
that way you wont take it for granted .
most people I say that too think I am loopy ...
but it's all in the way you look at it
ely
Member
Dave, that makes sense. In garden design the best gardens are always the ones with "rooms" or where you can't see the whole garden from any one point, you are encouraged to move from area to area.
I think it was in a Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander that he recommends NOT placing windows to have full beautiful views. To instead have a small gap in which you glimpse the view. I can't remember the reasoning, but I'll see if I can look it up.
Yes, we'd lose a bit of view, but we'd see the same thing from outside when entering the house, or leaving the house (the eastern side anyway). I wonder if any of the shades would be removeable for winter.
I remember when planning our house that I really wanted a view to the south west where the storms come from and to see sunsets fully. But it didn't fit with any of the other ideals for the house, and a friend said, well, just have a chair in the garden where you can see the storms and sunset, and that made a lot of sense!
Ely
ely
Member
Here we go, from Christopher Alexander's A Pattern Language:
134 ZEN VIEW
"This is the essence of the problem with any view. It is a beautiful thing. One wants to enjoy it and drink it in every day. But the more open it is, the more obvious, the more it shouts, the sooner it will fade. Gradually it will become pat of the building, like the wallpaper; and the intensity of its beauty will no longer be accessible to the people who live there."
p643
ely
Member
This pic from the Sunenergy guy on Facebook is kinda what I had in mind
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sunergy-Design/50674003240?v=info#!/photo.php?pid=1591443&id=50674003240&ref=fbx_album
but they're not full length windows, so no need to go all the way to the ground.
Although, if they did, that could become a kind of enclosed garden area...
dymonite69
Member
Ely,
I think that is true. Arrange windows as if they are picture frames rather than a panorama. It creates transient glimpses of excitement.
Jamie Durie also advocates creating gardens like rooms. Little windows, hidden doorways, blind alleys, curving paths.
termite
Member
Hmmm... I get the drift, but I think the writer may have been referring to a static view.
When your view changes with the weather or the season or the traffic - or even the time of day, it is a source of long-term interest. Even Heidi always loved the effect of sunset on the mountain peaks.
Even just a static view of greenery will always provide eye relief.
What some people do however is crave openness above all else, to the detriment of practicality. You end up with unrelenting blandness.
I find that a balance between competing needs is best - an all-out view from one place that you're never resting/seated in (such as a staircase or hallway), and moderate/enclosed views from seated locations indoors.
Personally, I'm not a fan of louvres. Even when 'perfectly' aligned across the direction of the view or light source, they obscure a fair proportion of it. My personal preference is for retractable blinds or moveable shutters, though they are subject to mechanical breakdown and weathering at a higher rate than fixed building elements.
As for garden design, though Durie has some very good ideas, I'm more of a Capability Brown fan - less of the contrivance is visible. Then there is Japanese garden design... no straight lines, light and dark, enclosure and openness.
GBD
Member
Another option is a sliding vertical wall that creates shade. Like a garage door hung from above or with a track on the ground that rolls left and right across and in front of the window which you can slide back to be in front of a wall during winter.
It can be made of whatever materials take you fancy and you can slide it across little by little as the summer sun on these windows is not desired.
You can stand it off the wall as far as you like, and also have it at an angle or 45 degrees (not parallel to the wall) which can give that sense of "what else" and yet still shade the window as the sun tracks in a more vertical pattern.
But it really only works for East and West windows.
re the windows and views above - totally agree 
I think society is out of touch with a sense of space in their lives - hence their desire to live in holiday homes - and they are really out of touch with that "home" and sense of security and privacy it needs to provide us.
great idea . species selection is the key to success and that very much depends on your local climate. for instance up here on the north coast of NSW, the winters are fairly mild and so called deciduous plants don't always behave as they are supposed to . Years ago I tried growing deciduous vines (kiwifruit and grapes)only to find they lost their leaves very briefly in spring but kept them most of winter . So we resorted to growing fast growing annual climbers and replanting every year. Rip them out in autumn , and then plant in late winter !
Hi there, I´m a big fan of John Basdens facebook page https://www.facebook.com/sunergydesign?v=info.
He´s got great infos and interesting post about the topic.
