Saint-Eloois-Winkel

Fixscreen and Panovista Max

Plenty of natural light yet bearable indoor temperatures

‘Plenty of natural daylight in the home,’ it was at the top of the priority list of the owners of this sleek new construction home. The result is a south-facing facade with lots of glass. The Renson cloth awning ensures that indoor temperatures still remain bearable at all times.

The large windows of this sleek villa overlook the garden and allow kitchen and living space to be bathed in natural light. The other side of the coin is that when the sun is full, it threatens to become unbearably hot indoors. Especially in a well-insulated new construction home like this one, heat trapped inside can have difficulty getting back outside. ‘So blinds had to be provided anyway,’ the owners quickly realized. Sunproof glazing was the first option, but we decided against it for fear of discoloration and because we would lose daylight. The choice of Fixscreen exterior blinds from Renson ultimately turned out to be the right one. On sunny days, we consistently put it down in the morning before we leave for work. That way the inside temperature does not rise too high. If we don’t, the mercury quickly rises to 27°, even in winter, with the low sun shining down on the glass. This is why the owners regret not immediately putting up fabric awnings for the sliding window that faces the terrace. The upstairs cantilever does provide shade there when the sun is high, but in winter it still shines right on the window.

Maintain view outside, even at the corner
So the screens are a hit, especially since with the fabric awning down, you still maintain view outside. That transparency was especially important to the residents for the windows near the kitchen and living room, while a less translucent type of fabric was chosen for the bedrooms. And with the brand new Panovista Max, the owners also found the perfect solution for the glass-on-glass corner window in the living room. With this system, the fabric awning simply extends over the corner of the glass, with no annoying guides or cables to obstruct the panoramic view. Since the 2 cloths of the corner screen zipper closed at the corner when you lower them, the cloth awning is resistant to the wind there as well.

Tightly fitted screens
“The whole house was designed in function of the incoming daylight, so it was clear from the beginning that we had to take into account shading,” the architect looks back on the final result. This meant that the Renson screens could be concealed very subtly in the facade. Both the fabric boxes and the guides – in the same color as the aluminum exterior joinery – are barely noticeable and even lowered do not detract from the sleek style of the home. “We went to see some homes and so we knew it could be done that way,” the residents conclude.

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