The ESRF upgrade programme includes a number of extended beamlines in which instrumentation stability, be it mechanical or thermal, will be of utmost importance. Significant efforts are being made at every stage of design to increase stiffness and minimize thermal drift, but a thermally stable environment would greatly facilitate instrument conception and enhance overall performance. A numerical model of the most stable existing ESRF experimental hutch is detailed. With the aim to enhance thermal performance of future ‘nano hutches’, several optimization studies, both spatial and transient, have been performed on this model. Results from these studies and associated recommendations for future nano hutch design improvements are presented.