High summer temperatures pose a growing challenge for indoor comfort. In an increasingly demanding climatic context, architecture has a key role to play: it is not only a matter of fighting the heat with technology, but also of designing spaces that, in themselves, help to maintain a comfortable temperature. In this article we discuss effective – and often passive – architectural strategies to improve the thermal performance of the home during the summer.
1. Orientation and design of the house: the first gesture to avoid overheating.
Design begins long before windows are installed or materials are chosen. The shape of the building and its orientation determine to a large extent its thermal performance during the summer.
- Orienting the house to the north and east allows you to take advantage of natural light without receiving the strongest sun from the west.
- Reducing glazed surfaces on sunny facades minimizes direct radiation.
- Compacting the shape of the building (less exposed exterior surface) improves thermal efficiency.
- Designing intermediate spaces such as porches or verandas reduces the direct solar load on facades and windows.
2. Solar protection and bioclimatic design: intelligent shading to gain coolness.
Protecting openings from direct sunlight is essential to avoid overheating in summer. Shading is not just an aesthetic response: it is a key design tool.
- Calculated overhangs and eaves block out the high summer sun and let in the winter sun.
- Majorcan shutters, louvers or movable louvers that allow to regulate the entrance of light and heat according to the time of the day.
- Textile awnings and exterior shading systems, more effective than interior curtains.
- Deciduous vegetation, such as trees or vines, which provide shade in summer and allow light to pass through in winter.
3. Natural ventilation in the home: moving air to cool the spaces.
Good cross ventilation can make all the difference on hot days, allowing air to be renewed and reducing indoor wind chill.
- Facing openings that generate natural air currents between opposite facades.
- Indoor patios or solar chimneys that help to extract hot air by pressure difference.
- Sliding doors and high windows, which facilitate the vertical circulation of warm air to the outside.
- Passive ventilation grilles that allow air renewal without energy consumption.
4. Temperature-regulating materials: building thermally intelligent homes
Not all materials behave the same in the heat. Choosing the right building and cladding materials makes all the difference in summer comfort.
- Materials with high thermal inertia (such as stone, brick or concrete) absorb heat during the day and release it at night.
- Clear or reflective coatings, especially on roofs, which reduce solar radiation absorption.
- Ventilated facades and multilayer systems, which prevent heat from reaching the interior.
- Continuous thermal insulation, also in roofs and floors, not only in winter, but also to maintain coolness in summer.
5. Livable outdoor spaces: designing for summer outside living
Instead of fighting the heat by locking ourselves in, why not design to enjoy the summer outdoors? In-between spaces help make the hot weather more bearable and expand the use of the home.
- Covered porches and shaded terraces, which protect from the sun and allow you to be outdoors.
- Landscaped interior courtyards, which create fresh and ventilated microclimates.
- Vegetable pergolas or with adjustable louvers that control solar radiation.
- Fountains or sheets of water, which refresh the immediate environment through evaporation.
At Cronotopos, we understand architecture as a tool to improve the lives of those who live there. Designing homes that work well in summer is not an add-on, but a responsibility. For this reason, in each project we analyze the climatic context, the orientation, the living habits of the users and the intelligent use of materials and passive systems. Our goal is to create beautiful, durable and livable spaces all year round, where comfort does not depend on the machinery, but on the architectural design itself. Because a well thought-out house is also a cool house.