Ten Minute Guide to Window Design

Designing your own home and want to avoid windows failure? Check out our Ten Minute Guide for some vital Window Design tips.

Our Ten Minute Guide series of e-books cover a wide range of topics which will be of interest to self-builders or potential self-builders, or anyone thinking of building or renovating their own home. This particular guide will tell you all you need to know when planning and designing your windows.

You may not have given a great deal of thought to how the windows in your home will look, what purpose they will serve, or how they will affect the thermal efficiency of your property. You may have no idea what solar gain is, or how self-cleaning glass works, but fear not – our Ten Minute Guide is full of window design tips so that you can make educated decisions.

This guide covers the basics of window design and what you need to bear in mind when sizing and positioning glazing, as well as the different types of window available and the materials at your disposal. We also look at how to create a contemporary style through good use of glazing, and how getting some simple decisions wrong can cause real issues for your project.

We consider triple glazing, and whether it offers value for money, and give simple, straightforward advice on incorporating dormer windows and skylights into your build. There’s also a brief science lesson as we learn about self-cleaning glass and terms such as ‘hydrophilic’ and ‘photocatalytic’.

For an often overlooked element of any house design, windows really do play a huge part in the aesthetic appeal and performance of your home. So give us ten minutes of your time, and we will give you the knowledge you need to go forward with confidence.

Current edition published January 2017. All details correct at time of publication.