Controlling solar heat gain always seems to require some kind of innovation. Steve Larson, Architectural Building Arts, Madison, Wis., has managed to come up with the innovation and make it attractive.

Larson's clients wanted a room added to the their Tudor-style house. The southwest corner of the room had numerous windows, and the clients wanted to keep the hateful summer afternoon sun out and protect their privacy. To do that, Larson added a mechanized window blind system, common in Europe. A motor raises and lowers the blinds. When down, the blinds fend off the glaring afternoon sun, but a quarter-inch space between the slats allows pleasant diffused light through.

Unfortunately, when rolled up, the blinds looked like warts on the outside of the house. Larson had to devise a way to hide them. He came up with, in essence, a double wall. The interior wall works as a typical framed wall. The outer wall has a stone veneer along the bottom four feet, which matches the existing house. Larson installed the windows in the interior wall, making them look recessed. To support the upper portion of the exterior wall, he placed columns between the windows.

The space created above the windows and between the columns gave Larson enough room to hold the window blinds. The double walls also allowed him to install more insulation to help beat back the frigid Wisconsin winters. With a flick of a switch, the homeowners can lower the blinds to keep out the harsh, hot summer light; with another flick they can raise the blinds to let cool evening breezes through opened windows.