Daylighting: Natural Light in Architecture

(National Geographic (Little) Kids) #1

Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence


Exhibition designer ASL Dangerfield


Lighting designer DPA Lighting Consultants


Client Hong Kong Museum of History


The Redoubt at the Lei Yue Mun Museum in
Hong Kong has a central courtyard,
surrounded by a series of casemates (vaulted
chambers) constructed in the ramparts of this
former British fort. The courtyard and higher
level are covered by a translucent roof
membrane supported on four steel masts.
The brief to the lighting consultants
required them to investigate the following
aspects of the exhibition designer’s
responsibilities:


  1. The way in which artificial lighting could
    enhance and dramatize a display in the
    courtyard in spite of the very high level of
    daylight.

  2. The degree to which the daylight could
    penetrate the interiors of the casemates
    through the relatively narrow entrances
    from the courtyard, crucial knowledge
    when designing the display of fragile and
    fugitive artefacts.

  3. The way in which the design of the
    exhibition fabric and lighting could help to
    overcome the problem of a visitor’s
    adaptation to the different light levels on
    entering the casemates.

  4. The design of the lighting within the
    casemates.
    The enclosed character and artificial lighting
    of the exhibition proposed for the courtyard ^
    a replication of a Chinese fort of the Qing
    dynasty ^ would have ensured a visually


172 Daylighting: Natural Light in Architecture


Location plan


Section through the courtyard to show the location of the tentlike roof structure


SW Photography

SW Photography
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