How to Borrow Natural Light - An Architect's Strategy Guide
Summary
TLDRThis video script delves into the concept of 'borrowed light' in architectural design, emphasizing its importance for sustainable buildings. It traces the history of daylighting back to the 1916 New York zoning resolution and showcases various strategies to maximize natural light, such as interior walls, translucent materials, and skylights. The script illustrates how these methods can transform spaces, making them brighter and more comfortable, and highlights their necessity in modern sustainable design.
Takeaways
- 🏢 The 1916 zoning resolution in New York City was a response to the Equitable Building's shadow, emphasizing the importance of daylight and air access.
- 🌞 Sustainable design practices have made the use of natural daylight a necessity, not a luxury, especially with the increasing focus on energy efficiency.
- 🏡 Borrowed light involves capturing light from the exterior of a home and directing it to interior spaces, which is crucial for rooms without direct exterior access.
- 📏 The sun provides a significant amount of light energy, with a clear day's illuminance being around 10,000 foot candles, despite reductions by clouds and glass.
- 🚿 Interior walls can be designed to collect and disperse light, using reflective surfaces to enhance light distribution in a space.
- 💡 Clear glass transmits the most light, and when positioned above eye level, it maintains privacy while allowing light to pass through.
- 🌫 Translucent materials are effective for borrowed light as they scatter light without direct visibility, providing comfort and reducing eye strain.
- 🚪 Full-height glass walls offer auditory privacy without visual obstruction, making them ideal for spaces with limited exterior window access.
- 📚 Stairways can act as conduits for light, especially when designed to capture and reflect light from above, illuminating lower levels of a home.
- 🪟 Interior windows are functional for light borrowing, allowing light in while maintaining privacy and being less expensive than exterior windows.
- 🌌 Skylights are an efficient means of borrowing light, especially on urban lots where they can be combined with light wells for maximum effect.
Q & A
What was the impact of the Equitable Building on New York City's architecture?
-The Equitable Building, being the largest office building in the world at the time, cast a large shadow on its neighborhood. This led to the enactment of the city's 1916 zoning resolution, which aimed to preserve access to light and air at street level and influenced the design of many iconic towers in the city.
Why is the concept of borrowed light important in sustainable design practices?
-Borrowed light involves capturing light from the exterior of a building and transporting it to spaces where it's needed. It's a necessity in sustainable design practices as it reduces the reliance on artificial lighting, thus conserving energy and enhancing the well-being of occupants.
How does the sun's illuminance compare to that of a full moon?
-The illuminance from a full moon is roughly one foot candle, whereas on a cloudless day, the sun's illuminance is roughly 10,000 foot candles. This highlights the significant amount of light energy the sun provides, which is crucial for daylighting strategies.
What are some challenges in harnessing natural light for interior rooms?
-Challenges include rooms without access to an exterior wall or spaces oriented in a way that restricts access to adequate daylight. Solutions involve using interior walls designed to collect and disperse light, clear glass for transmitting light, and translucent materials to scatter light.
How can interior walls help in borrowing light?
-Interior walls can be designed to collect and disperse light rather than restrict it. They can gather indirect light from adjacent light-filled spaces and use the reflective nature of surfaces to diffuse light into other areas.
What role do clear glass and translucent materials play in borrowed light?
-Clear glass transmits the greatest amount of light into adjacent spaces, while translucent materials reflect, absorb, and scatter light, making them effective for creating walls that borrow light. They help in preserving privacy while allowing the passage of daylight.
How can a stairway be used as a vehicle for borrowing light?
-A stairway can be positioned to capture and reflect light from above, either by fully glazing it or using a skylight. This makes it an efficient way to illuminate lower levels that might otherwise be light-starved.
What are the benefits of using interior windows for borrowed light?
-Interior windows bring in light from adjacent areas while preserving acoustical privacy. They are less expensive than exterior windows and can be operable to help with passive ventilation, adding functional and aesthetic value to a space.
How effective are skylights in borrowing light, especially on tight urban lots?
-Skylights are highly effective for borrowing light, especially when used in conjunction with an interior atrium or light well and surrounded by reflective walls. They can transform tight spaces into well-lit areas by capturing light from above.
What is the purpose of a light tube in daylighting?
-Light tubes channel light to where it's needed using highly reflective flexible tubing. They are particularly effective in private spaces or areas where a lot of glass isn't desirable, providing a simple technology to direct sunlight indoors.
How does the concept of borrowed light enhance the perceived dimensions of a room?
-By using borrowed light, the perceived dimensions of a room can be naturally increased. This concept works well for spaces with floor area constraints, making them feel larger and more open.
Outlines
🏙️ The History and Importance of Daylighting
The paragraph discusses the historical significance of daylighting in architecture, starting with the Equitable Building in New York City in 1915. This building's large shadow led to the 1916 zoning resolution aimed at preserving light and air. The concept of 'borrowed light' is introduced as a strategy to capture exterior light and direct it into interior spaces. The paragraph emphasizes the necessity of natural daylight in sustainable building design and explains the measurement of light intensity using foot candles. It also highlights the challenges of bringing light into interior rooms and presents various solutions, such as using interior walls to disperse light, clear glass for transmitting light, and translucent materials to scatter light. The benefits of borrowed light, including increased perceived room size and improved comfort, are also discussed.
🌞 Innovative Solutions for Borrowing Light
This paragraph explores creative ways to incorporate borrowed light into architectural designs. It begins with the idea of using interior windows to connect spaces and bring in light, such as linking a bar to a powder room. Skylights are presented as an efficient means of borrowing light, especially in urban settings where space is limited. The paragraph also discusses the use of light wells and reflective walls to enhance the effectiveness of skylights. It mentions the importance of opening up interior spaces to distribute daylight and the use of higher sheen paint to help distribute light. The paragraph also touches on the impact of additions to existing structures on daylight and how to maintain it through strategic design. It concludes with a discussion on solar tubes, which are an effective way to channel light into private or glass-restricted spaces, and the aesthetic and functional benefits of using multiple solar tubes.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Borrowed Light
💡Equitable Building
💡Zoning Resolution
💡Daylighting Strategy
💡Foot Candle
💡Translucency
💡Interior Walls
💡Skylights
💡Light Wells
💡Interior Windows
💡Solar Tubes
Highlights
The history of light borrowing dates back to 1915 with the construction of the Equitable Building in New York City.
The 1916 zoning resolution in New York City aimed to preserve access to light and air at street level.
The concept of borrowed light involves capturing light from the exterior of a home and transporting it to interior spaces.
The sun provides an immense amount of light energy daily, with a full moon providing roughly one foot candle compared to the sun's 10,000 foot candles.
Interior rooms without access to exterior walls or with restricted daylight can be common problems in building design.
Interior walls designed to collect and disperse light can help solve the problem of light-deprived interior spaces.
Clear glass transmits the most light into adjacent spaces and can be used to maintain privacy while allowing light transmission.
Translucent materials are effective for borrowing light as they reflect, absorb, and scatter light without compromising daylight passage.
Translucency can be achieved through various methods such as sandblasting, acid etching, or using laminated glass.
Full-height glass walls can increase the perceived dimensions of rooms and are effective for borrowed light concepts.
Stairways can serve as natural conduits for illuminating lower levels in a home and are efficient for borrowing light.
Interior windows can bring in light while preserving acoustical privacy and are less expensive than exterior windows.
Skylights are an efficient means for borrowing light, especially in tight urban lots, and can be combined with interior atriums or light wells.
Light tubes are a simple technology that channels light to where it's needed using highly reflective tubing, effective in private spaces.
Painting surfaces with a higher sheen can help distribute light more effectively within interior spaces.
The concept of borrowed light can transform tight spaces into pleasant ones by utilizing light wells and skylights.
Solar tubes can be used to light up dark spaces effectively, with multiple tubes providing more intentional and functional lighting.
Transcripts
hi Eric here with 30x40 design Workshop
today I want to do a short course on how
to borrow light and it begins with a
little bit of a history lesson in 1915
the 38-story Equitable building in New
York City was the largest office
building in the world it contained 1.2
million square feet of office space and
consumed nearly every available square
foot of its diminutive lot it cast an
equally large Shadow on its neighborhood
in lower Manhattan its construction
inspired the enactment of the city's
1916 zoning resolu ution which was
designed to preserve access to light and
air at the street level the resolution
prescribed specific limitations for a
building's envelope its outer walls and
would go on to shape the stepped forms
that you see today on many of the iconic
Towers in the city it underscores the
importance that access to Daylight had
in shaping even the largest of cities
the individual buildings that make up
those cities and more broadly sensible
building design with an increasing focus
on sustainable design practices the
smart use of natural daylight in our
home homes is no longer a luxury it's
become a necessity at the heart of any
good daylighting strategy is a concept
of borrowed light the capture of light
falling on the exterior of a home and
transporting it to the spaces where it's
needed the sun delivers an incredible
amount of light energy to us each day to
get an idea of just how much it helps to
understand the standard by which we use
to measure light intensity the foot
candle light from a full moon is roughly
one foot candle while the Sun's
illuminance on a cloudless day is
roughly 10,000 foot candles of course
clouds and the filtering effects of
glass can reduce the actual amount of
light that reaches the Interiors of our
homes by some 50 to 90% but 1,000 to
5,000 foot candles is still an amazing
amount of light given that we only need
around 35t candles to comfortably read
by harnessing this light energy isn't as
simple as placing a window on an
exterior wall interior rooms without
access to an exterior wall or spaces
oriented in a way that restricts access
to adequate daylight are common problems
each with a unique solution here's a
look at some of those Solutions walls
interior walls built to collect and
disperse light rather than restrict it
are one solution the wall shown here
gathers indirect light from an adjacent
light filled bathroom and capitalizes on
the reflective nature of the Bath's wall
surfaces to diffuse it into the bedroom
clear glass will transmit the greatest
amount of light into adjacent spaces and
because the glass here is positioned
above eye level the bath remains private
and sound
isolated the White Walls of the same
bathroom act as the indirect light
source for the nearby bedroom bright
neutral colors work well for an indirect
borrowed lighting strategy good solar
exposure is Borrowed by the bedroom
simply via the glazed upper
wall because translucent materials
reflect absorb and scatter light they
make great walls for borrowing light the
degree of translucency will affect just
how much light is scattered the effect
is similar to obscuring direct sight but
Pres preserving the passage of daylight
diffused light is comfortable and limits
eye strain translucency can be achieved
in a variety of ways glass can be sand
blasted or acid etched it can also be
textured or laminated with laminated
glass a plastic interlayer lends a
translucent effect similar to that
created by sand blasting but without the
marking characteristics there are
applied films to consider as well full
height Glass Walls offer auditory but
not visual privacy when there's limited
access to exterior window space they're
an obvious
choice the perceived dimensions of our
rooms are naturally increased when we
use the borrowed like concept this means
it works particularly well for spaces
with floor area
constraints in this project the concept
of borrowed light has been applied to
the overall ordering system in place
there's a logic to the order of solid
and void and it offers plenty of light
to the bedroom space the pattern on the
glazed wall has been achieved with a
custom film The Design was created from
a sketch by the architect the vaulted
ceiling and clar story take advantage of
a reflected light from the entire volume
of
space stairs another option and an
efficient vehicle for borrowing light in
a home is the stairway it's a natural
conduit for Illuminating an often light
starved lower level if the stair can be
positioned to capture and reflect light
from above by either fully glazing it or
using a skylight it's even more
effective the combination of glass guard
and White Walls has made this stairway a
light source for the surrounding rooms a
solid wall used here would Chang the
space
dramatically interior windows whether
they're clear or frosted there are
plenty of functional incentives to
borrow light using interior windows the
ones here bring in light from the
adjacent living area while preserving
the nursery's acoustical
privacy interior windows aren't subject
to the same weathering and insulation
restrictions as exterior windows so
they're less expensive to buy and
install making them operable especially
in a stairwell where a natural
convective flow is greatest can help to
passively ventilate a space too
functional reasons aside interior
windows can offer unexpected Delight why
connect a bar in a powder room I don't
really have a good reason but I don't
really need one I love the idea that The
Powder Room will look different based on
what's on the top shelf and the time of
day in the bar too the differences that
The Powder Room renders to its
backsplash can be appreciated it's these
connections that make architecture
interesting linking spaces doesn't
always have to make sense functionally
or
otherwise skylights because the Sky Dome
above is a giant light source it's hard
to find a more efficient means for
borrowing light here than the skylight
on tight Urban lots a skylight can be
used in conjunction with an interior
atum or light well and be surrounded by
reflective walls to increase its
efficiency this project utilizes a light
well of sorts allowing the lower level
to borrow light from the upper skylights
the second floor hovers in the space
instead of being extended to the full
width of the Gable and the overall
effect is lighter and brighter the the
more we open up our interior spaces the
easier it becomes to bounce daylight
around from areas with good solar
exposure to areas with poor exposure
painting the surfaces with a higher
Sheen paint further helps distribute the
light this luminous shower is an example
of how a light well and Skylight can
transform a tight space into a pleasant
one additions to existing structures
often compromise the amount of daylight
the original building receives not here
though the Skylight ensures that the
existing home bar daylight at its
perimeter transoms similar in concept to
the ideas seen in the first images a
glass transom extends the dimension of a
space and introduces light to a room
without compromising its privacy light
tubes a simple technology solar tubes
Channel light to where it's needed using
highly reflective flexible tubing
they're especially effective in private
spaces or spaces where a lot of Glass
isn't
desirable although short tubes are used
in this project the concept is similar
six large tubes light this otherwise
dark space a bold and considered element
this choice of multiple solar tubes
rather than a single one not only feels
more intentional but as you can see it's
also exceptionally functional a grouping
of three is usually a good starting
point but the more the
better
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