Let There Be Light

Although it's in the center of the house, this sitting room enjoys natural sunlight from three sides.

Let There Be Light

Although it's in the center of the house, this sitting room enjoys natural sunlight from three sides.

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Creating separate living spaces within a residence allows for more flexible living, but for this home, it also created issues with light and sound.

Architect George Hatzisavas says the owners asked him to create three living areas: a playroom for the children, an informal living and dining area for day-to-day living, and a formal sitting room for entertaining guests.

“These separate living areas had to maintain a common connection and enjoy as much natural light as possible,” he says.

Unfortunately, a two-storey residence next door blocked the sun, which meant that angling the living spaces north to maximize sunlight wasn’t an option.

This formal sitting room is primarily used for entertaining guests, so it needed to be near the entrance of the house to allow separation from the informal areas. Consequently, it was only exposed to one external wall.

To maximize light, Hatzisavas installed highlight glazed windows at the top of the stairwell which allow the sun to shine into the sitting room across the entranceway. These windows also introduce light into the playroom on the second level.

Glass was also used to allow light from the informal living and dining rooms into the sitting room area.

“As with many homes, our aim was to achieve a visual connection between the spaces while maintaining an acoustic separation,” says Hatzisavas.

“Considering the position of the room, glass was the obvious choice. To reduce noise still further, we used wall-mounted oyster lighting, as opposed to downlights, which create cavities in the ceiling through which noise can travel.”

Dana Lane from Candlewick Interiors enhanced the sense of light by selecting a sunny color scheme and gentle, textured soft furnishings to finish the space.

Kiln-dried hardwood was used to create paneling in the walls and internal French doors allow access from the entranceway. An additional door also allows the sitting room to be accessed from the living room.

Creating separate living spaces within a residence allows for more flexible living, but for this home, it also created issues with light and sound.

Architect George Hatzisavas says the owners asked him to create three living areas: a playroom for the children, an informal living and dining area for day-to-day living, and a formal sitting room for entertaining guests.

“These separate living areas had to maintain a common connection and enjoy as much natural light as possible,” he says.

Unfortunately, a two-storey residence next door blocked the sun, which meant that angling the living spaces north to maximize sunlight wasn’t an option.

This formal sitting room is primarily used for entertaining guests, so it needed to be near the entrance of the house to allow separation from the informal areas. Consequently, it was only exposed to one external wall.

To maximize light, Hatzisavas installed highlight glazed windows at the top of the stairwell which allow the sun to shine into the sitting room across the entranceway. These windows also introduce light into the playroom on the second level.

Glass was also used to allow light from the informal living and dining rooms into the sitting room area.

“As with many homes, our aim was to achieve a visual connection between the spaces while maintaining an acoustic separation,” says Hatzisavas.

“Considering the position of the room, glass was the obvious choice. To reduce noise still further, we used wall-mounted oyster lighting, as opposed to downlights, which create cavities in the ceiling through which noise can travel.”

Dana Lane from Candlewick Interiors enhanced the sense of light by selecting a sunny color scheme and gentle, textured soft furnishings to finish the space.

Kiln-dried hardwood was used to create paneling in the walls and internal French doors allow access from the entranceway. An additional door also allows the sitting room to be accessed from the living room.

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