If the designer is a good designer then follow their lead. They do things for a reason that others may not know about such as structural issues with large glass area's. Could have a large beam overhead. Also things can vary from the plan drawn to actual construction so they maybe erring on the side of caution so if there is a variation during construction it doesn't end up an expensive rework, just a slight site change only. Are the window and door heights 2400mm?

There are so many variables and ways to build things. Building succesfully is very much working well in three dimensions and understanding the structure, and the waterproofing required in three dimensions. Your question suggest that you are only thinking in terms of heights and brick courses, but there are lots of other things happening that would suggest that you get a section of the house and post it with dimensions. Most building professionals work in millimetrres rather than brick coursing. So converting your dimensions to millimetres - 28 courses is 2400mm, which is the minimum height for a habitable room ceiling. Six courses of brickwork is 514mm for the window opening, however your glazed area will be less than this due to the width of the window frame. Your 3 courses of brickwork which is 257mm should be enough for most steel lintels, unless you have a really wide opening for a window? You also need to allow for flashing if the clerestorey is above another roof running into the same wall - if this is the case you may need the full 47 courses. I would be asking your designers why they need 47 courses, as it is a lot higher, and there may be problems with setback issues? Is it a flashing issue? Is it a window opening width and lintel issue. I am afraid you haven't really supplied enough information or images to explain about the clerestorey window so it is impossible to answer precisely. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls and Dr Retro Virtual Visist

If you are referring to the plan posted on another discussion, you only have three windows on the facade, so it would not be a big design choice. I personally prefer 2430mm doors and windows with 2700mm ceilings, and standard height window and doors for upstairs 2500mm ceilings. But every increase to window and door height costs more money, so it goes back to budget.

Thanks to everyone for your help once again. The drafting is not completed yet. It’s a custom house. Now, the builder is doing all the architectural work and will give us 3d animation and of course all the sides elevations. The roof angle is 25 degrees with 450mm eaves. The builder didn’t want to spend any time on this topic until we get the full house architectural drawings. The reason why I was seeking public opinions was to get an informed decision so that we can let them know what we really want now. We don’t want to delay our build because of change of mind on some minor things. Even though it may not have a significant effect, the part of the window directly under the eaves serves no purpose because the sun can’t reach it. If you are standing inside the house, and you are looking up through the window, you will see tunderneath the eaves (not good). This part is like a heat loss blackspot. That’s why I prefer to see 2 courses of bricks from outside. But I don’t know how this will turn out with high doors. I really want the doors and windows to be aligned through out the house.