Window Coverings And Privacy In Supported Accommodation

A window does four things at once in a supported dwelling: it brings in daylight, it lets the resident see out, it exposes the interior to anybody passing, and it moves heat in both directions.

The covering has to resolve all four, and it has to be operable by the person living there.

Privacy starts with the window, not the blind

The most reliable privacy is designed before any covering is chosen.

Sill heights set so a seated resident can see out and a standing passer-by cannot see in. Bedroom windows positioned away from the approach path and away from a neighbour's outlook. Bathroom glazing placed high or treated so it never relies on something being closed.

Which means the floor plan and the window schedule carry most of the privacy, and the blind handles the rest. A plan that relies entirely on blinds being drawn produces a dwelling where the resident lives in the dark.

External screening does the same job while keeping the daylight, and it works with the outdoor space described in [private open space in accessible housing](/blog/private-open-space-in-accessible-housing).

Cords are a safety decision

A looped cord within reach of a resident who may not understand the risk is a hazard, and the regulatory requirements on cord safety exist for that reason.

So the default in supported accommodation is cordless. Either a spring operated blind, a wand control, or a motorised unit.

Motorised is frequently the right answer rather than the premium one, because it removes the cord, puts the control on a wall plate or a handset at an accessible height, and can be operated by a resident who cannot reach or grip a wand. It also integrates with the systems in [assistive technology in supported accommodation](/blog/assistive-technology-in-supported-accommodation).

Where it is motorised, the power has to be there, which makes it an electrical item resolved during fabrication rather than a soft furnishing chosen at handover.

Different rooms, different treatments

**Bedrooms** need blockout. Light control supports sleep, and for residents with a sensory condition or a shift pattern it is a functional requirement rather than a preference. Blockout fabric in a channel or with a decent overlap, because a blockout blind with light spilling around three edges is not blockout.

**Living areas** need light without exposure, which is a translucent or sunscreen fabric that cuts glare and heat while keeping the view and the daylight.

**Bathrooms** need a treatment that does not depend on operation: obscure glazing, a high window, or external screening.

**Any window in a path of travel** needs a covering that does not intrude into the space when open, which rules out some side-stacking options in a corridor.

Heat and glare are performance items

A west facing window with the wrong treatment turns a sealed, well insulated dwelling into a room that cannot be cooled.

Which means the covering is part of the thermal strategy rather than a decoration. External shading does far more than internal, so eaves, awnings and screens are designed in, and the internal blind handles glare rather than heat.

That sits inside the broader performance picture in [energy and thermal performance in modular](/blog/energy-and-thermal-performance-in-modular) and the glazing selection in [windows, doors and glazing performance](/blog/windows-doors-and-glazing-performance).

Durability and replacement

Supported accommodation sees harder use than a private home, and a blind that cannot be repaired is a blind that gets removed and not replaced.

So the selection favours robustly serviceable systems: components that can be sourced individually, fabrics that can be cleaned rather than only replaced, and a fixing method that holds in the wall type it is attached to.

And the model, the fabric and the supplier go into the handover documentation, so a replacement in year four matches rather than guesses. That is part of what [handover documentation and as-built records](/blog/handover-documentation-and-as-built-records) is for.

Resolved at design, installed in the factory

Blind tracks are fixed to structure and the power for a motorised unit is run before linings close.

Which puts window coverings in the design stages alongside the rest of the fitout, not in a post-handover shopping list. A resident who moves into a dwelling with no coverings has a dwelling they cannot use at night.

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