2.0 Advice to the Reader
2.1 Justification
Daylight is a major factor in determining the way
in which people experience the internal environment and how they are
able to respond to certain tasks. It can be used to generate
distinctive and attractive architecture and optimised in conventional
forms. This intrinsic value of daylight is increasingly recognised. If
appropriately designed and integrated, it can improve amenity value,
significantly offset the cost and reduce the environmental impact
associated with artificial lighting.
As a consequence of evolving attitudes, guidance in
respect of lighting has changed dramatically in recent years. However,
the design issues are complex, as proper provision of natural daylight
requires that the form, fabric, internal layout and systems of a
building are arranged and integrated appropriately. Architects and
engineers need to be properly and fully informed in order to recognise
and balance a number of factors if they are to optimise the use of
daylight without the inherent problems. Capital and running costs need
to be understood.
Guidance on daylighting can be very building type
specific. Schools, for example, are predominantly occupied during the
day and both the amenity value and energy savings have been
investigated extensively in principle and practice.10 Much has been
documented since the pioneering example of St Georges School, Wallasey
in 1961.11 Office buildings have their own constraints and there
has been extensive research into the need to balance heat gains,
cooling requirements, reflection, glare and human factors as diverse as
personal control and eye strain.12,13,14,15, 16 There is
relatively little comparable information on sports halls.17 Until
recently it was felt adequate that natural lighting was advised
against, on the grounds of safety and to allow constant lighting and
climate conditions thought to be conducive to sporting activity.
This report assesses the arguments against the
traditional sports hall design, in order to identify whether more
contemporary and creative approaches to the design of naturally lit,
energy efficient and safe, modern sports hall design are widely
achievable. Evidence will be gathered from buildings designed largely
outwith present guidance. Long standing assumptions by individuals and
organisations will be revisited to determine the extent to which they
are still appropriate.
2.2 Using this Report
Chapter 3 is an introduction to the subject of
daylighting in sports buildings. It includes information on principal
issues. It is followed in chapter 4, by a summary of a survey which has
been used in discussions with designers and cost professionals known to
have experience of daylighting in sports halls, as well as the users
and staff of the buildings. The questionnaires used are shown in
Appendix E.
Brief descriptions of examples of existing and
proposed sports halls using daylight follow in chapter 5. This is the
major source of practical evidence of the circumstances in which
daylighting can work in a sports hall. Those that have been documented
are reviewed and some problems identified. This section includes
reviews and field test results of facilities visited in Scotland. It
may be further developed following site visits to some English
facilities. It will be consolidated to provide information on
techniques and approaches to good daylight design.
General quality, quantity and appearance issues and
sport specific requirements (those sports most prone to problems
associated with daylighting) are detailed in chapter 6. There is also
an introduction to the interaction between lighting and other servicing
issues.
Chapter 7 includes information on daylight design
issues. The chapter also contains useful sources of calculation methods
and further references for more detailed study. Information is provided
on sun paths and glare avoidance.
Daylight and sunlight times for Scotland are
discussed in chapter 8, with a view to providing site specific advice
to designers specifying the glazing and layout of a new building or
building refurbishment.
Chapter 9 looks at control of daylight and sunlight
with examples from a range of building types. Combining daylight and
artificial light is discussed in chapter 10 including different types
of light, lighting controls and colour.
A thin chapter 11 indicates the dearth of useful
information on cost issues but these will be investigated in relation
to the identified built and planned examples.
An increasingly common approach to design guidance
is to follow the RIBA Plan of Work /ACE Work Stages.18,19,20 Chapter 12
therefore details important issues at each stage of the Lighting Design
Process. Chapter 13 details the issues surrounding a number of
modelling and daylight prediction methods. A full bibliography and
appendices are included.
Some of the terms used, especially in the
description of daylight calculation, will not be known by everyone. A
glossary is included in Appendix G. Design methods and analysis
to allow the reader to further understand the subject and design
responses will be included in future reports as worked examples in an
Appendix.
2.3 Primary References
This report is intended as a stand-alone document.
However, to achieve a greater understanding the following references
could be consulted:
• DfEE
Lighting Design for Schools, Building Bulletin 90, HMSO, 1999. An indispensible guide to lighting of schools
which provides a good basic grasp for adaptation to other building
types.
• Athorough
guide to daylighting in general and an excellent self-learning tool: Designing Buildings for Daylight, Bell J. & Burt W., BRE 1995.
• For an
in-depth view of the whole lighting process, including daylighting: The Design of Lighting,
Tregenza P. & Loe D., E. & F. N. Spon, 1998.
• Aimed
primarily at the architect and with many case studies: Lighting Modern Buildings,
Phillips D., Architectural Press, 2000.
• For a quick
reference source and general guidelines: Desktop
guide to daylighting - for architects, DETR
Good Practice Guide 245, 1998.
• For sports
hall design guidelines: Handbook of Sports
and Recreational Building Design, Vol. 2 Indoor Sports, Sports Council, Butterworth Architecture 1995.
• A large
range of BRECSU
publications give guidance on energy efficient design of sports halls,
lighting in general and some specific documentation of daylighting in
sports halls.21
• As a guide
to the design process and integration of life cycle thinking which
underpins sustainable building design:- Halliday S.P., The Green Guide to the Architect’s Job Book, RIBA Publications.
