Natural lighting has a major impact on our lives and the way we live and work. Considering most people in UK and Ireland spend the majority of their time indoors, how we incorporate natural light into our designs is one of the most important aspects of architecture on the well-being of people who use the space.
If integrated correctly, natural lighting can transform the look and feel of a building. Having more natural light can make a room much more comfortable and inviting, can increase the value of space and enhance the quality of interior decorations. Proper use of natural lighting can also reduce the cost of energy consumption of a building compared to artificial light. It can be used for temperature control and air conditioning. It can conserve energy/lower heating and cooling costs. Natural light promotes airflow which helps keep the air fresh and prevent mould or mildew developing in buildings as these spores thrive in darkness.
It also has a massive impact on our health, well-being and productivity. Natural lighting improves our mood, leads to an increase in energy levels, boosts productivity and concentration, enhances morale, induces quality and improves sleep.
Window Placement
When designing or renovating your home, we carefully consider the placement and size of windows and consider the positioning and orientation of the building and optimise the positioning of windows to take advantage of the sun's path throughout the day. South-facing windows receive the most sunlight, while east and west-facing windows capture morning and evening light.
This passive solar gain warms the building naturally reducing the reliance on artificial heat and ventilation. We advise using windows that are as high quality as possible to ensure minimal heat loss in winter, keeping house cooler in summer and providing good acoustics. We always aim to maximise the amount of natural light in your home to help reduce your reliance on artificial lighting.
Window Style
We carefully consider the style of window as this can affect the amount and direction of natural light that enters your home. For example, large floor-to-ceiling windows or windows with a higher aspect ratio to maximise light penetration. Framing is also considered as windows with minimal framing can allow more light to enter.
Roof lights can bring natural light and air into areas that normally wouldn’t have windows. Roof lights can bring much more natural light into a space than normal vertical windows resulting in increased health and well-being of the inhabitant and reduced energy bills.
The use of internal glazing can be used to maximise natural light. It can be the solution to dark hallways, for example, or for transferring light from one room to another. Replacing solid doors with glass doors is an effective way to bring more natural light into a space.
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Outdoor Connections
Creating outdoor living spaces adjacent to the interior of your home, and incorporating sliding or folding glass doors can help merging indoor and outdoor spaces, allowing abundant natural light to flood into your home while providing a connection to nature.
Window seats can take advantage of natural light while providing a cosy, health-promoting and visually appealing space within your home.
At Farren Architects the use of natural lighting is integral to all our designs. We constantly seek different ways to let more and more natural light in to create amazing spaces. We design according to the form and function of each space as each type of room requires different lighting solutions. We take into account when and how the room is used, the dimension of the space, the materials, the furniture and colour scheme.
