Designing with low northern light

Visitors from further south often notice the same thing about a Swedish winter. The sun is there, but it never really climbs. On a clear day in December it moves along the horizon, low enough to shine straight through a window and across the floor to the back wall of a room. For a few hours the light is long, warm and very close. Then it is gone.

That light is the reason many of our clients build in the first place. It is also the easiest thing to get wrong.

Start with the path of the sun

Before we draw a room, we draw the sun. On every site we record where it rises and sets in midwinter and midsummer, and where trees, rocks or neighbouring buildings will block it. A plot that looks generous in July can lose its low sun entirely in January behind a single ridge of pines.

This changes where the house goes. At Möja House we moved the living room further out on the rock than the clients first imagined, because a few metres decided whether the winter sun would reach the far wall in the afternoon. It does now, and it is the room they use most.

Windows that face the right way

A large window is not automatically a good one. In the north, glass facing south and west collects the low sun in winter. Glass facing north brings an even, cool light that is lovely for working and reading, but little warmth. East light belongs in bedrooms and kitchens, where mornings start.

We think about the height of windows as much as their size. Low sun reaches deep into a room through a tall opening, while a long, low window frames the view and keeps the light near the floor. A window seat set into a deep wall catches the sun and gives someone a reason to sit in it.

Surfaces that hold the light

Low light travels across surfaces rather than falling on them. That makes the choice of material more visible than in brighter places. A wall of lime render shows every small change in the plaster as soft shadow. Oiled oak warms the light as it reflects. Limestone floors catch the sun and glow for a short while after it has gone.

We avoid glossy finishes for the same reason. A polished surface turns the low sun into glare. A matt one turns it into atmosphere.

Planning for the dark months

Designing for light also means designing for its absence. In midwinter the evenings start early, so the artificial light of a house matters as much as its windows. We plan it in layers.

• Low light near the floor and along walls, so rooms feel calm rather than lit like an office

• Warm light that can be dimmed, placed where people actually sit and cook

• Outdoor light kept to a minimum, so the view of snow, water or trees stays visible from inside

The summer brings the opposite problem. Light lasts late into the night, and bedrooms need to become properly dark. We draw shutters, curtains and deep reveals into the plans early, not as an afterthought.

A house that changes through the year

The best northern houses do not try to look the same in every season. They let the low sun of February move across a wall, and the midsummer light linger on the terrace until late. When a client tells us they notice a different room each month, we know the light was drawn into the house from the start.