When people think about return on investment in home design, they usually focus on kitchens, bathrooms or exterior finishes, the things that look good in photos. Window design plays just as big a role, especially for comfort, cost of ownership and long-term liveability, even though it rarely gets the same attention.

Poorly placed windows, or oversized windows with no solar control, can make a house uncomfortable year-round. Trying to fix that afterwards with blinds, curtains or air conditioning isn’t a great solution, it treats the symptom rather than the design problem.

Good window design gives you better daylight without overheating, passive solar gain in winter, a stronger connection to outdoor space, and reduced reliance on mechanical heating and cooling. It changes what it feels like to live in the home, not just how the windows look from outside.

At Enduro, window layouts are designed around real sun angles, cross-ventilation and how a room will actually be used, not just how the windows look on the elevation. For a general benchmark, Australia’s national window rating system is WERS (the Window Energy Rating Scheme), though real-world comfort still depends on how the windows are designed into the whole Passivhaus home, not just a rating number.

Not effectively. If a window is oversized or has no solar control, dressing it with blinds, curtains or extra air conditioning only masks the discomfort, it doesn’t address the underlying design issue the way a well-considered window layout does from the start of a custom home build.