Daylighting: Natural Light in Architecture

photography area, and ancillary accommodation including WCs and
offices.
The building layout is arranged around a central rectangular atrium
area with one open-plan studio located either side of the atrium on the
first and second floors. The lower ground and ground floor areas contain
one open-plan studio per floor, each located on the northern side of the
atrium. The atrium is to be provided with daylight via a large rooflight
that spans the length of the atrium; daylight being allowed to penetrate
downwards through the atrium to illuminate lower circulation areas, by
means of voids located in the floor slabs above, at specific locations.
Walls provide valuable pin-up space in the open-plan studios, and as
such a compromise was required between providing sufficient areas of
glazing for adequate daylighting, whilst maintaining an acceptable
amount of wall space for pinning-up.
In order to investigate the effect of increasing the glazed area to the
wall abutting the atrium, measurements were undertaken with and
without a solid wall inserted in the model.
The aim of the daylight study was to establish whether the level of
daylight within the building would be adequate, based on the architects’
initial proposals. The study was limited to the open-plan studio areas, a
typical office area and the main atrium/circulation space.

56 Daylighting: Natural Light in Architecture

Photograph of an area in the completed

building

Bennetts Associates Architects