“Light is the first material of architecture.”
Before we argue about skylights or clerestory windows, it helps to remember that line. You are not just cutting holes in a roof or lifting a band of glass near the ceiling. You are shaping light the same way you might shape concrete or oak. You are deciding how the room will feel at 7 a.m. in January, at 3 p.m. in July, and on that first rainy Sunday after you move in.
When you choose between a skylight and clerestory windows, you are really choosing how visible the sky should be, how private the room needs to feel, and how steady you want the daylight to be. Skylights can pour light down like a spotlight. Clerestories tend to wash it along the walls. One gives you a direct relationship with the weather. The other creates a calm, lifted perimeter that almost disappears once you get used to it. Design is subjective, but the right choice usually reveals itself once you think about how you want the space to perform hour by hour.
Imagine walking into a living room in the late afternoon. The ceiling is flat, quiet, almost heavy. The only light comes from a couple of windows at eye level. The space feels enclosed. Not terrible. Just contained. Now picture the same room with a long, narrow clerestory cut into one side of the ceiling line. The ceiling edge separates from the wall, like it is floating. Sun spills down the upper part of the wall, and the lower part stays calmer, easier on the eyes. You still have privacy. You still have wall space for art, shelves, or a sofa. Yet the room feels taller and more open, without actually changing the dimensions.
Now take that same room and replace the clerestory with two carefully placed skylights. The light drops from above and pools on the floor and furniture. When a cloud passes, you see it. When it rains, you hear the soft tapping right above you. It is more direct, more emotional. You lose some control, but you gain a stronger connection to the sky. Some people love that. Others find it distracting, especially in spaces where they work or watch screens.
The first 300 words of any daylight conversation should be about this feeling. Not about U‑values or warranties, not even about cost. How do you want mornings to feel in that room. How much do you want to notice the passage of time. Do you want the walls to glow or the floor to glow. Do you want people looking up or looking out. Once you are honest about that, the technical decisions start to fall into place, and the choice between skylights and clerestories becomes less of a guess and more of a clear design move.
Skylights vs. Clerestory Windows: What You Are Really Choosing
“Form follows function.”
That quote gets overused, but it fits here. A skylight is almost pure function: a hole in the roof to bring in top light. A clerestory is a functional strip of glass near the roofline, but it behaves more like an architectural gesture. Both bring in daylight. They just do it in completely different ways.
A skylight is about vertical light. It reads as a cut in the roof where the sun passes overhead and drops light straight into the room. You notice it the way you notice a spotlight in a gallery. It creates drama, patches of intense brightness, and strong contrast. It can also bring heat and glare if you are careless with orientation, size, or shading.
Clerestory windows are about lateral light. They sit high on the wall, above eye level, and throw light deeper into the space along surfaces. Instead of a circle of sun on the floor, you get a band of brightness that softens as it moves away from the window. The ceiling seems lighter, the walls taller, and the room more tranquil.
Neither is “better.” They solve different problems.
Key differences in experience
Think about a kitchen. With skylights over an island, the countertop becomes the stage. Chopped herbs, a cutting board, steam from a pot, all under a shaft of light. It is theatrical. With clerestory windows along one side, the whole room glows more evenly. You get fewer hard shadows on your work surface, less glare on the fridge, and more consistent light over the day.
In a bedroom, a skylight over the bed can be magical at night but not so friendly at 5:30 a.m. in summer. Clerestories placed to face north or shaded east can bring in soft light while keeping your sleep cycle a bit more protected.
So the real question is not “Which is better.” It is: where do you want contrast, where do you want calm, and how much control do you want over privacy.
How Light Behaves: Vertical vs. High Side Lighting
“The quality of the light matters more than the quantity.”
Daylight has direction. Top light from a skylight is efficient at bringing a lot of light into the center of a floor plan, especially if your outer walls are already busy with cabinets or you are tight on neighbors and privacy.
High side light from clerestory windows tends to be less harsh, especially when oriented to the north or protected by deep overhangs. It washes the upper walls and ceiling, which then bounce a softer version into the room.
Glare, contrast, and visual comfort
Skylights excel at intensity. That can be productive in circulation spaces, stairways, and entry halls, where you want movement and a bit of drama. In places where you look at screens, glossy counters, or large TVs, that same intensity can become annoying. You get sharp highlights and deep shadows.
Clerestory windows spread light laterally, so your eyes adjust more easily. The luminance gradient from bright to dark is smoother. For workspaces, studios, and living rooms where you linger, this is usually kinder.
Design is subjective, but I tend to ask: do you want visitors to say “Wow” when they step into that part of the house, or do you want them to forget about the light because it just feels right. Skylights are often the “wow” choice. Clerestories are the “feels right” choice.
Privacy, Views, and the Sense of Enclosure
Light is not the only thing you are inviting in. There are neighbors, streets, and your own desire for either openness or refuge.
Skylights: sky views, zero street views
Skylights give you views of clouds, stars, and treetops, but almost no lateral views. This can be perfect in tight urban lots where any eye level window would look straight into someone else’s living room. Bathrooms, internal corridors, and small home offices often use skylights for this reason. You get daylight without sacrificing privacy.
There is also the psychological effect. When you only see sky, the room feels more like a retreat. You are aware of the weather, yet shielded from the visual noise of the city.
Clerestory windows: filtered connection
Clerestory windows give you light and a sense of connection without full exposure. Because they sit high, people outside cannot see directly in, but you can still glimpse treetops, rooftops, or distant hills. The wall below the clerestory acts like a buffer.
In living spaces where you want to feel connected to the outside but not observed, this balance works well. Think of a long clerestory band facing a garden or courtyard. You see green, you sense movement of branches, yet the lower walls stay solid, grounding the space.
Material Choices: Frames, Glazing, and Surrounds
Once you decide the type of opening, the next layer is material. The light you get is influenced not only by glass, but also by what surrounds it.
“Every material changes the way light behaves.”
Frame materials and character
Frame thickness and color affect the perceived size of the opening and the crispness of the light.
– Dark, thin metal frames tend to disappear, leaving the light as the main event.
– Light colored or wood frames become part of the composition, adding warmth or rhythm.
For skylights, frames are often minimal when seen from inside, with most of the structure hidden. For clerestories, the frame can be part of the elevation, aligning with vertical elements or repeating at regular intervals.
Glazing types
Different glass types modulate brightness, solar gain, and privacy:
– Clear glazing: Maximum light, clear view of sky or outside, more risk of glare.
– Low iron glass: Very clear color, often used where you want crisp daylight for art or accurate colors.
– Tinted glazing: Cuts glare and heat, but can shift color inside.
– Frosted or diffused: Softens direct sun, great for bathrooms or side yards.
For many projects, I tend to lean toward clear or slightly diffused glass with external shading or good orientation, rather than heavy tinting that makes light feel dull. For roofs, laminated and tempered layers are non‑negotiable for safety and durability.
Interior reveals and light wells
The shape of the opening matters as much as the glass. A skylight with deep, angled sides can throw light across the ceiling and wall, like a built‑in reflector. Straight, vertical sides produce a sharper, more focused beam.
For clerestory windows, a slight inward slope at the top of the opening can help bounce light deeper into the room. Painting the reveal a matte white or light color boosts this effect. If you paint it darker, the opening feels smaller and more controlled.
Comparing Contexts: Where Each Strategy Shines
Different rooms favor different strategies. Here is a high‑level comparison of how skylights and clerestories behave in common situations.
| Context | Skylights | Clerestory Windows |
|---|---|---|
| Open-plan living / kitchen | Strong focal light over islands or dining tables; risk of glare on counters and screens if not shaded | Even, calm light along walls and ceiling; helps zone space without harsh hotspots |
| Bedrooms | Great for stargazing; tricky for early morning light; needs blinds or external shading | Soft, indirect light; easy to control for sleep; maintains privacy |
| Bathrooms | Excellent daylight with full privacy; steam and moisture require careful detailing | Good balance of light and ventilation; must check sightlines to neighbors |
| Home offices / studios | Inspiring top light; can produce screen glare if poorly placed | Balanced, diffuse light ideal for work; less distracting |
| Hallways / stairs | Dramatic shafts of light; highlights movement; minimal conflicts with furniture | Helps stretch the space visually; gentle light for circulation |
| Dense urban lots | Brings in light where side windows are impossible; full privacy | Useful along higher party walls; requires careful neighbor awareness |
Climate, Orientation, and Energy
You cannot separate light from heat. The same glass that brightens your space can also turn it into a greenhouse if you ignore climate and orientation.
Hot climates and strong sun
In hot or sunny climates, skylights on south or west facing roof slopes can overheat a room. They need:
– Exterior shading devices or deep shafts.
– Low solar gain glazing.
– Venting capability to release hot air at the top of the space.
Clerestory windows oriented north or fully shaded by wide eaves perform well in these regions. They bring in glare‑free light, and when operable, they support cross ventilation and stack effect cooling. Warm air rises and escapes through the clerestory, drawing cooler air from lower openings.
Cold climates and short winter days
In colder regions, the priority is maximum daylight in winter with limited heat loss. Skylights can help here because the low winter sun can reach them more directly than it reaches vertical windows. Still, they are more exposed to heat loss at night, so high performance glazing and careful insulation at the frame are key.
Clerestories on the south side can catch low winter sun and project it deep into the space, especially with light colored floors and walls. In summer, a well‑sized overhang can block high sun, reducing heat gain.
Construction, Waterproofing, and Maintenance
The less romantic side of skylights vs. clerestories is water, dirt, and long‑term care. Ignoring this side usually leads to regret.
Skylights: piercing the roof
Every skylight is an interruption in the roof plane. Modern units are reliable when installed correctly, but they will always ask for more care than an unbroken roof. Key points:
– Proper flashing kits matched to your roofing material.
– Adequate curb height in snow or heavy rain regions.
– Slight slope even for “flat” roof skylights, to shed water and dirt.
Inside, you also need to consider condensation. Warm, moist interior air can collect on the colder glass. Good ventilation and thermal breaks in the frame help reduce this.
Cleaning is another factor. Skylights are hard to reach, so dirt and pollen can stay visible longer. Some glass types have coatings that break down organic matter with sunlight and wash more cleanly in rain, but they do not make cleaning vanish.
Clerestory windows: part of the wall system
Clerestories are integrated into the wall, so they share details with regular windows: flashing, sill pans, proper sealing, and so on. Water runs down a vertical surface, which is easier to manage than standing water on a roof.
Maintenance is more straightforward. Clerestories are often reachable from inside with a short ladder. You can clean them, adjust hardware, or replace seals without climbing onto the roof.
One practical point: high windows need some thought for operation. If they open, you need manual rods, pull chains, or motorized operators. I tend to recommend that clerestories in tall spaces either be fixed or motorized, especially in areas where you want to purge hot air in summer evenings.
Daylight Modeling: Thinking Like an Architect at Home
You do not need complex software to get a sense of how light will move in your space, though professionals use it for precision. You can borrow a simpler approach.
Study the sun with simple tools
Print a basic sun path diagram for your latitude. Note where south, east, and west land on your site. Then:
– Stand in the room at different times and imagine where the light comes from if it was entering from above vs. high side.
– Use a cardboard model of the room with cutouts for skylights or clerestories and a flashlight as the “sun.” Move it across the model and see where the light lands.
It sounds basic, but your eyes pick up a lot. You will notice that top light reaches the middle of the plan quickly, while side light shapes the perimeter more clearly.
Balancing layers of light
Think of daylight in layers:
– Background: general, soft light that fills the room (clerestories are great here).
– Accent: highlights on specific surfaces or objects (skylights above a stair or table).
– Task: more focused light where you read, cook, or work (could be windows, skylights, or even artificial fixtures).
You rarely want to rely on just one layer. A living room with only skylights can feel strange at night once the sky turns black. Pairing clerestories with lower windows gives depth and variation.
Materials: How They Pair With Skylights and Clerestories
Different interior materials respond to light in different ways. A concrete floor under a skylight feels different from a pale oak floor under a clerestory. You can use this to your advantage.
| Material | With Skylights | With Clerestory Windows |
|---|---|---|
| Polished concrete | Creates bright reflections and sharp highlights; emphasizes texture and any imperfections | Soft sheen with gentle gradients; room feels grounded yet bright |
| Light oak flooring | Warm, sunlit patches; can fade over time in strong direct sun | Even warmth across the room; subtle variation rather than hotspots |
| Matte white walls | Strong bounce light; can reduce contrast from skylight beams | Ideal for grazing light from clerestories; shows gentle shadows and depth |
| Darker painted walls | High drama; bright shafts stand out against deep color | More intimate feel; clerestory light creates a quiet glow along the top |
| Natural stone (marble, limestone) | Veining becomes pronounced in direct sun; risk of heat gain on the surface | Subtle pattern visible without glare; works well in calm spaces |
I tend to prefer concrete and matte plaster where light is strong, because they handle contrast well, though wood works too if you respect its tendency to fade and move.
Cost, Complexity, and Where to Spend
Pure cost comparisons can be tricky because roof structure, roof pitch, and existing conditions matter a lot. Still, there are some patterns.
Skylights
– Often come as prefabricated units with integrated flashing.
– Can be cost effective when adding light to a finished space without changing walls.
– Structural changes to rafters or trusses can add complexity.
– Motorized blinds and venting units increase cost but can solve real comfort issues.
Clerestory windows
– Tie into wall framing and sometimes require raised plate heights or partial second‑level volumes.
– Can be more affordable in new construction where you are framing from scratch and already planning tall walls.
– Offer more flexibility in size and rhythm, since you can combine multiple units or use continuous glazing.
If the budget is tight, one strategy is to keep the structure simple and invest in fewer, well‑placed openings with higher quality glass and better detailing, rather than scattering many small, average ones. A single clerestory band or one well placed skylight can do more than five random openings.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Learning from other people’s missteps is faster than living with your own.
Overlighting the space
Too many skylights, especially in a small room, create a “Swiss cheese” ceiling and a restless pattern of light that never settles. Your eyes work harder than they need to.
With clerestories, an unbroken band of glass on every wall can flatten the space. Leave some walls solid. Light feels stronger next to darkness.
Ignoring control
Every opening should have a plan for:
– Shading (overhangs, blinds, exterior louvers).
– Privacy (height, frosted glass, or orientation).
– Cleaning and access.
Skylights without blinds in bedrooms, or clerestories facing a bright street without any control, often lead to retrofitted fixes that spoil the original idea.
Forgetting night-time character
By day, the opening gives you light. At night, it becomes a dark patch or a reflective surface. A living room with large skylights feels different after sunset. The ceiling may feel deeper, almost void‑like. Some people enjoy that; others feel unsettled.
Clerestories at night can become glowing bands if you light the wall below them carefully. Indirect LED strips washing up toward the glass can make the ceiling appear to float, echoing the daytime effect in reverse.
Combining Skylights and Clerestories Thoughtfully
You do not have to choose one or the other across the entire project. The most refined homes often use both, each in the right place.
Layered strategy
One approach:
– Use skylights in the core: stairs, internal bathrooms, corridors.
– Use clerestories along edges: living rooms, kitchens, studios.
The core gets the daylight it would never see otherwise. The edge spaces get shaped light that defines their volume.
You can also pair them in the same room. For example, a living area with clerestories along the north wall to provide steady, diffused light, and a single skylight over a reading corner to create a defined, almost sacred spot.
The key is restraint. Think of yourself as sculpting a few precise moves rather than sprinkling openings everywhere.
Imagining a Few Scenarios
Sometimes it helps to walk through concrete examples.
A compact urban townhouse
Narrow lot, neighbors close on both sides, only front and back walls free. The ground floor is dark at the center.
– A pair of skylights over the central stair draws light down through all levels, making the stair a vertical light shaft.
– Clerestory windows along the top of the party wall on the top floor bring light into bedrooms while keeping privacy from the neighbors.
– The living area at the back uses a clerestory above large sliding doors to stretch the feeling of height and pull light deeper into the space.
Here skylights solve the internal darkness. Clerestories refine the edges.
A single-level courtyard house
Large lot, more privacy, and a desire for calm, resort‑like spaces.
– Long clerestory strips run along the inner walls facing the courtyard, giving a consistent, soft light that glides across ceilings and walls throughout the day.
– A single, large skylight over the dining table creates a connection to the sky during meals, with operable blinds for control.
– Bathrooms use small, roof‑mounted skylights to bring in daylight without views to neighbors.
The light story here is gentle, with one or two intentional moments of vertical drama.
An artist’s studio behind the house
North facing garden, simple rectangle, focus on painting.
– A continuous north facing clerestory along the long wall floods the studio with even, color‑accurate light.
– No skylights above painting areas to avoid glare and hard shadows.
– A single small skylight near the entrance creates a bright spot that acts like a visual anchor as you move in and out.
Workspaces benefit from stability in light; clerestories become the primary tool.
Bringing It Back to Feel
Once you have absorbed all the technical angles, return to the very first question: How do you want the space to feel over the course of a day.
If you imagine people looking up, tracking clouds, noticing the patterns on the floor and the seasonal shifts quite directly, skylights belong in your palette. If you picture a quieter interior where light is present but not loud, where ceilings float and walls gently glow, clerestory windows are likely the better main move.
You can be disciplined and use only one strategy across the project or play with both in different rooms. The only real mistake is treating them as interchangeable “daylight products” instead of as distinct instruments. Once you see them as tools for sculpting with natural light, the decision stops being about product type and becomes a clear architectural choice.