A sidelight or sidelite in a building is a

window A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent materia ...

, usually with a vertical emphasis, that flanks a door or a larger window. Sidelights are narrow, usually stationary and found immediately adjacent doorways.Barr, Peter.
Illustrated Glossary
, 19th Century Adrian Architecture, accessed June 17, 2009.The College Hill Historic District
", Community Partnership Center, accessed June 17, 2009. While most commonly found as supporting elements emphasizing the importance of a primary entrance, sidelights may be employed at any interior or exterior door where a visual emphasis is desired, or where additional light or visibility is needed.

Design

Sidelights are often found in tandem with transom windows and generally the pane size in the sidelights matches that of the transom.Wilson, Steve. ''Exterior House Trim: Creative Ideas for the Exterior of Your Home'',
Google Books
, Creative Homeowner, 2006, p. 63, (). Typically narrow, sidelights can be placed on both or just one side of a

door A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide security b ...

and can include a sash or have glass that is stopped into the frame.Mouzon, Stephen A. and Henderson, Susan M. ''Traditional Construction Patterns'',
Google Books
,

McGraw-Hill Professional McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes referenc ...

, 2004, p. 47, ().

Security and privacy concerns

While transom windows generally do not have any privacy concerns associated with them because of their height, sidelights usually need to be covered to ensure privacy. Any number of

window treatment A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent materi ...

s can be employed to enhance privacy in doorways with sidelights.

Miniblind A window blind is a type of window covering. There are many different kinds of window blinds which use a variety of control systems. A typical window blind is made up of several long horizontal or vertical slats of various types of hard mater ...

s, micro-miniblinds, and shirred

curtain A curtain is a piece of cloth or other material intended to block or obscure light, air drafts, or (in the case of a shower curtain), water. A curtain is also the movable screen or drape in a theatre that separates the stage from the auditorium ...

s are among the window treatments that offer an increased level of privacy. Another choice is stained or

beveled glass Beveled glass is usually made by taking thick glass and creating an angled surface cut (bevel) around the entire periphery. Bevels act as prisms in sunlight creating an interesting color refraction which both highlights the glass work and provides ...

, which can offer some privacy while also contributing to the overall beauty of a building's design.Nielson, Karla J. ''Window Treatments'',
Google Books
,

John Wiley and Sons John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American multinational publishing company founded in 1807 that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company produces books, journals, and encyclopedias, in p ...

, 1989, pp. 92-93, (). When approaching building security sidelights can factor into entrance security. For instance, for proper security a sidelight should only be installed on the side of the door without the

door knob A door handle or doorknob is a handle used to open or close a door. Door handles can be found on all types of doors including exterior doors of residential and commercial buildings, internal doors, cupboard doors and vehicle doors. There are man ...

or handle. Sidelights provide people on a building's interior with a narrow view of the outdoors and as such doors without sidelights, especially in

apartment building An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ...

s, should be equipped with a

peephole A peephole, peekhole, spyhole, doorhole, magic eye, magic mirror or door viewer, is a small, round opening through a door from which a viewer on the inside of a dwelling may "peek" to see directly outside the door. The lenses are made and arr ...

.Atlas, Randall I. ''21st Century Security and CPTED: Designing for Critical Infrastructure Protection and Crime Prevention'',
Google Books
,

CRC Press The CRC Press, LLC is an American publishing group that specializes in producing technical books. Many of their books relate to engineering, science and mathematics. Their scope also includes books on business, forensics and information tec ...

, 2008, pp. 248-49, ().

References

{{reflist Architectural elements Windows