Daylighting: Natural Light in Architecture

(National Geographic (Little) Kids) #1

6CaseStudies


INTRODUCTION


InLighting Modern Buildings^1 the Case Studies were divided into eleven
categories from Residential to Institutional/Public Buildings, as represent-
ing the different building functions. When discussing daylighting this
categorization is less appropriate, since the criteria for daylighting art
galleries have many of the same characteristics as the daylighting of
supermarkets, despite the fact that the final solutions may be very
different. A decision has been made not to repeat any of the Case Studies
from the former book, but it may be of interest as an aide memoire to
mention one or two in the area of the new categories.
The eight new categories used are as follows:
Offices To include public buildings and institutions
Residential To includes homes, hospitals and hotels
Education To include schools and university buildings
Ecclesiastical To include churches and chapels
Leisure To include leisure centres, sports halls and
restaurants
Display To include art galleries and shops
Transport To include over- and underground buildings
Industrial To include any form of industrial use.


A brief introduction to these categories is included, with illustrations of
one or two of the original projects, where daylighting was critical.


Offices


Six offices were included inLighting Modern Buildings, the most techically
advanced in terms of daylighting being the solar office by Studio E in
Doxford, where photovoltaic panels are employed to harness energy. The
BA offices at Waterside are also an excellent example of daylighting in
offices for a corporate headquarters.
Offices are one of the programmes where the requirements of vision
are critical, and therefore the daylighting design must meet stringent
requirements in terms of illumination level, and glare control; but where
the intangibles are also of importance, such as the view out. In the


(^1) Lighting Modern Buildings. Architectural Press, published 2000

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