Which Way the Plot Faces

Which way it faces, when the sun reaches the front, and where the qibla falls — worked out, not guessed.

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And the air

About the air, one honest word: this is not measured for your plot — it is what Lahore's weather does generally. From July to September the damp monsoon air comes in from the east and south-east, so an opening on that side is what actually cools the house. In May and June the dry loo blows in from the west and north-west; that side is better kept closed, shaded or planted. Inside DHA the block's own layout and the neighbouring houses change all of this, so treat it as a starting point, not a measurement.

How this is worked out

  1. The direction is measured off DHA's own map — the front edge of your plot, the one the road runs along, taken as a bearing from north. It is not typed in by anyone and it is not a guess. Of DHA Lahore's 148,289 plots, 144,622 have it; the rest are odd shapes with no single clean front, and for those we say so instead of inventing a direction.
  2. The sun is not read off a chart. For Lahore's own position on the earth the sun's height and direction are worked out minute by minute, and the front wall counts as lit whenever the sun is above the horizon and within a right angle of the way the wall looks. That is why a north-facing front shows two separate windows in June — early morning and late evening — and nothing at all in December.
  3. The times are Pakistan time and the three days are the year's turning points — the longest day, the shortest day, and the day halfway between. Every other day of the year sits between those three. The figures are for an open plot: a tall house next door, a big tree or a boundary wall will take some of it away.
  4. The qibla is the true bearing to Makkah from this plot, and the figure beside it is how far that line sits off your own walls. Give it to the architect before the plan is drawn — moving a washroom on paper costs nothing, moving it after the walls are up costs a great deal.

Every plot's own page carries the same direction, along with its sides, its site plan and the qibla drawn on it. Find a plot on the map →