What a building must tell you

Peter Tregenza
School of Architecture, The University of Sheffield

Peter Tregenza

Summary of conclusions Photometric measures alone are poor predictors of glare: light carries information which affects our response

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View and daylight are not separate things

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A I3 C

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I2 I3 I4

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Daylight varies with location with direction with time

We find meaning in this variation

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Variation with location

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Variation with time

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Where am I? What time is it? What day is it? Who are those people? What are they doing? What am I supposed to do?

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care home or primary school?

care home or caf ?

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Information that we need Health 24-hour cycle of light and dark Awareness of outside world Awareness of danger Recognition of a specific place, or What type of place? What quality? How do people behave here? Recognition of time of day & season Awareness of passing time Recognition of people and objects Recognition of hierarchy, ability to see detail Ability to control
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Place

Time

Tasks

Two additional hypotheses 1. We have expectations about the appearance of places

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Most of us spend most of our life in rectilinear rooms with side windows

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2. There is an optimum amount of information

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Summary 1. The purpose of lighting is to convey information. 2. We need several types of information about the world surrounding us: for physical and mental health, for recognition of place, for awareness of time, for decision and action. 3. Daylight, direct from the sky and reflected by things around us, is very rich in information. 4. People have expectations about places and these are linked with behaviour 5. Where there is stress or anxiety, the information given must be unambiguous and simple
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How much daylight should there be in an office? Enough for the natural variation of daylight to be noticeable Peter Tregenza 19

What is the minimum amount of daylight acceptable in a dwelling in present-day Britain? This is a judgement of values
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What design guidance should be given to the designer of a air terminal? Ensure that people who are old, anxious, in a hurry, with poor eyesight, not English speakers, can safely and Peter Tregenza 21 comfortably find their way

What reduction of daylight is acceptable? None, unless the existing users otherwise benefit from a new development. Daylight, as a photometric value, is Peter Tregenza 22 only part of a user expects

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Basic requirements for institutional residential buildings? Exposure to 24-hour day/night cycle, views of natural objects

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What is the correct working plane illuminance in a bedroom This is a stupid question. Make the room look beautiful and provide plenty of plug sockets. Peter Tregenza 25

Conclusions 1. Our knowledge of lighting needs has increased 2. Good practice & minimum acceptable conditions are not distinct in most current codes 3. Minimum standards are based on decisions about values. They must be simple and testable. 4. Guidance on good practice should a specify aims b take professional knowledge into account. 5. There is a need for a lighting standards panel.

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I keep six honest working men They taught me all I know. Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who.

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