Free guide · no email needed to read it
A window-by-window account of how the sun actually behaves in this suburb — which elevations suffer, when, and what we would specify on each. Written for Illovo's 1950s blocks and its newer glass alike.
01 — The short version
Illovo covers about 2.27 km² between Rosebank and Sandton, and almost every window in it belongs to one of two very different buildings. Behind the street trees stand the 1950s and '60s apartment blocks the suburb is known for — big rooms, solid walls, high and often pressed ceilings, parquet underfoot. A street away, along Oxford Road and Corlett Drive, newer clusters and glass-fronted buildings put tall glazing into the afternoon with nothing in front of it.
One fabric cannot answer both. A blind chosen for a shaded 1958 lounge under a jacaranda will fail on a west-facing slider two blocks away, and the reverse is just as true. So we work sun first, elevation second, product last — and this guide is that order, written down.
02 — The light here
At solar noon on 21 December the sun stands roughly 87° above the horizon over Illovo — near enough to straight overhead that a decent roof overhang shades a north window on its own. Six months later, at noon on 21 June, the same sun is only about 41° up. It comes in low, tracks right across the northern sky, and reaches metres into the room.
The compass points move too: in midsummer the sun rises south of due east and sets south of due west; in midwinter it rises and sets north of that line, and the day is three hours shorter. A window judged only in January is under-specified by July.
Altitude. Johannesburg sits around 1,753 m up, and UV intensity rises roughly 10% per 1,000 m; clear-sky summer UV here runs at index 11–13. That is hard on floors, upholstery and on the fabric itself — and why, where the building allows it, we would rather stop the radiation outside the glass than absorb it inside.
Storm season. October to March brings intense afternoon thunderstorms; the South African Weather Service lists heavy rain, flooding, lightning, strong wind and hail among the hazards, October and November the peak. Anything hung outside a window here is specified for that afternoon, not a calm one.
Berg winds. Winter and early spring bring dry westerly and north-westerly winds and their dust — the season when easy-clean fabric stops being a luxury.
Illovo's jacarandas and street trees are deciduous: free shade from about October, gone by the time the low winter sun arrives — precisely backwards from what a north-facing room wants. Tree cover here is seasonal, never permanent, so we specify as though the branches were bare.
03 — Elevation by elevation
Stand at the window with a compass — your phone will do.
Sun all year, but friendly geometry: near-vertical in summer, so an overhang or retractable screen kills it; low and deep in winter, which is free heat.
Verdict: retractable, seasonal — never fixed.From mid-afternoon the sun strikes close to square-on, and it drops rather than rises, so no overhang reaches it. This is where rooms overheat and colours fade.
Verdict: stop it outside the glass if you can.The same low geometry in the morning, with less heat because the building is still cool. The complaint is never temperature; it is 05:30 in December.
Verdict: darkness on demand, not heat control.Almost no direct beam — just even, cool sky-light, and in a suburb of stacked blocks a good number of sightlines.
Verdict: privacy and warmth, not shading.
Make it yours
Tell us which rooms are the problem and we'll send you this same guide with your elevations noted on it — what we'd look at in your lounge, your bedrooms, your balcony. No visit, no call unless you ask for one.
04 — What we'd specify, and why
For each: why it beats the obvious alternative here, and the trade-off the other way. Tap “add to my window list” on anything that sounds like your window — it carries through to both tools below.
West-facing living glass
Tiltable slats hung outside the pane stop the sun before it becomes heat — and because they tilt, you keep the view while killing the beam.
An interior blockout roller absorbs that energy at the fabric and the glass re-radiates it inward, so the room still warms. But this is exterior work and costs meaningfully more.
West and north view glass · lighter touch
Open-weave mesh cuts the glare and a useful share of the heat while the skyline and canopy stay readable. On a west lounge we specify a tighter weave than on a south one.
Sunscreen reverses after dark: the mesh that gave you privacy at 3pm gives the neighbours a clear view at 8pm. Overlooked rooms need a second layer.
Overlooked lounges and street-facing rooms
Two fabrics, two jobs — sheer by day, solid once the lights are on. A day/night does it in one roll; a double roller runs two blinds on one bracket and goes darker.
A day/night's solid bands are not blockout, so it is wrong for a bedroom that must go dark. The double roller's bracket is deeper — check it against a shallow reveal.
Bedrooms · especially east-facing
Slats always leak light at the tilt and the edges. A blockout roller in side channels, or overlapped outside the reveal, gets far closer to real darkness at 5:30 in December.
There is no in-between: blockout is up or down, with none of a venetian's steer-the-light control. In an all-day room, pair it with a sunscreen.
South rooms and winter comfort
The cells hold still air against the glass, insulating both ways. Where June nights sit near 4°C and single glazing is the norm, you feel the difference.
Honeycomb does not manage glare the way a mesh does, and it is no view product — raised it is lovely, lowered a wall.
Balconies, patios and covered terraces
A zip screen's fabric runs in side channels, so it stays locked in wind instead of flogging about — the whole argument on a Highveld November afternoon.
Side channels need something solid on both sides, and on a sectional-title balcony those walls are common property. An awning needs no side fixings but must be motorised with a wind sensor.
Ground-floor and boundary-facing windows
Aluminium slats roll down over the outside of the glass on their own guides, so heat, glare and light are dealt with before they reach the room.
There is a headbox on the facade — on a sectional-title building, an external-appearance change needing consent. Interior blinds avoid that; they just cannot beat the shutter on heat.
Shading, not security. Our roller shutters are made for sun, heat and glare control on the outside of the glass. They are not security-rated shutters — that is a different product, which we can quote on request.
Moisture-proof; tilt steers light onto the worktop. Trade-off: they collect dust.
Warmer against parquet. Trade-off: not for a steamy bathroom.
Wide sliders: tilt for light, draw off the opening. Trade-off: they move in a draught.
Drops from a ceiling slot, hardware hidden. Trade-off: plan before the ceiling closes.
Gables, arches and skylights, guided to hold position. Trade-off: needs motorising.
One control per elevation, no cord in reach; battery motors need no wiring. Trade-off: cost per blind.
05 — Blocks, trustees & pressed ceilings
So much of this suburb is sectional title that where the product sits — inside the section or on the outside wall — changes the whole conversation. Under the prescribed conduct rules an owner may not change the external appearance of a section without the trustees' written consent, unless the change is minor and does not detract from the appearance of the section or the common property. Outer walls are common property, so anything fixed to them — awnings, external screens, a roller-shutter headbox — needs that consent.
It is rarely a wall. Awnings on north and west windows are described as common practice and unreasonable to refuse; the governing rule is harmonious appearance, which is really a question about colour and profile. That makes “what will the trustees accept” a design input, not paperwork — so we specify slim, colour-matched profiles for complex work and hand owners the documentation to submit.
The period stock adds its own. Those 1950s and '60s blocks kept high — often pressed — ceilings, solid walls and generous openings. Deep openings suit fitting inside the reveal; a pressed ceiling is not somewhere to drill casually.
06 — Honest limits
Everything above is what the suburb and the sun will tell you. These five need a tape measure and a look — and getting them wrong is what makes a blind fit badly, or not at all.
Whether it fits inside the opening at all, and whether a double bracket or cassette clears the frame, handle and stay. Millimetres change the product.
A pressed ceiling, 1950s plaster over brick, a slim aluminium frame or a bulkhead all take different fixings — some take none without a batten.
A compass reading at the glass, plus what shades it and when: the block next door, a balcony above, a tree that will be bare in June.
A third-floor west balcony behaves nothing like a ground-floor patio behind a hedge. This decides side channels, sensors, and whether an awning is wise at all.
Where a motor charges or draws power, whether a chase exists, and where you want the switch — or whether a schedule is better.
07 — Two ways forward
Both free, neither commits you. The measure gives exact per-window pricing; the window list gives a budget range with nobody setting foot in the house.
The proper answer
It costs nothing and settles all five on-site questions in one visit.
If you'd rather not book yet
Want a ballpark first? Pop in rough sizes and we'll send a budget range by the next working day. Not sure how to measure? Leave it — our consultant measures for free and you'll get exact per-window pricing instead.
The window list
Measure the opening itself — width first, then drop, at the widest and longest point. Round to the nearest 10mm; nothing here is binding and we re-measure everything before anything is made. Anything you added while reading is already in the list.
| Room | Width (mm) | Drop (mm) | Fit | Product | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Print it, walk the house with a pen, and type it in when you're back at the desk. Nothing is sent anywhere until you send the enquiry below — and if measuring isn't your idea of a Saturday, skip it entirely: the free measure does it properly and gives you exact per-window pricing.
The free measure & written quote visit
A consultant comes to the windows, measures every opening, brings samples you can judge in your own light, and leaves you with a written quote itemised per window. It is free, there is no obligation, and nobody phones to push afterwards.
Before you go
Same guide, with notes on your elevations. One email, nothing else.
Sources
Sun angles, climate and suburb history are quoted from published sources. The specification reasoning and the trade-offs are our own, from fitting blinds in buildings like these.