Comfortable design in Darwin

- the trade-off between building orientation for ventilation

and for minimal heat gain (solar orientation)

In Darwin, the prevailing wind in the uncomfortable wet season is from the northwest, so orienting the house's long axis from SW to NE (see the first picture below) would enable best cross-ventilation of the house.

The final diagram gives a side view of this arrangement, showing how overhangs can shade the windows in both summer (when the sun is in the south) and winter (when the sun is in the north).

Opinions differ on which orientation is the best choice. If nearby building construction or vegetation growth could block your breezes, it may be best to choose the solar (east-west) orientation. Projecting wing walls can be added as shown in the picture above (solar orientation in Darwin), to deflect the NW wind through the windows. The wing wall on the leeward side helps to create a negative pressure zone, sucking air out the leeward windows

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