INDOOR LIGHTING

INDOOR LIGHTING

Natural or artificial, lighting is one of the most important elements in architecture, directly
affecting our perception of spaces. It is capable of defining volumes, enhancing colors,
textures, and therefore, contributing to the overall relationship between dimensions,
proportion, and contrasts. One of the many challenges of architecture is to shape spaces
based on light and shade, and sometimes natural light is not enough, requiring additional
light sources to be installed and controlled.

Since its early days, architecture has been challenged to create elements to absorb, reflect,
diffuse, and transmit light, as to unveil the features of a space and convey a certain
ambiance. Mastering natural lighting design has been one of the greatest achievements in
the history of architecture, from the Gothic style to the contemporary designs of Álvaro
Siza, but many projects also require effective artificial lighting to maximize the aesthetic
and functional quality of spaces.
Daylight is a crucial factor for all designers. Interior designers and lighting designers will
monitor how daylight enters each space they work on – it will affect where everything is
positioned. It’s as important as artificial light. In a living space with expansive glazing,
daylight will pour in making it feel bright and open. So then we think how to handle the
artificial light – and offer different options throughout the day. A grey afternoon in London
looks very different to a bright sunny morning in Dubai and will require different lighting.

Architectural lights still play a role where there’s daylight. Use it to brighten dark spots in
shelving, add brilliance to a task area or to highlight artworks. LED linear strips will bring
warmth to joinery and key features in your room and may be needed with the natural light
to add focus and softness. The key solution is to manage lighting options for different times
of day using a combination of daylight and artificial light. We can have pre-set options on a
switch pad to achieve the optimum results.
Natural Lighting

Natural lighting, also known as day lighting, is a technique that efficiently brings natural
light into your home using exterior glazing (windows, skylights, etc.), thereby reducing
artificial lighting requirements and saving energy. Natural lighting has been proven to
increase health and comfort levels for building occupants.

Most day lighting components are integrated in the original construction plan, however,
technologies such as tubular day lighting devices, skylights, electric lighting controls, and
optimized interior design may be considered in retrofit projects.

The science of day lighting design is more complex than simply bringing light into a home.
When adding a day lighting fixture, you must consider balancing heat gains and losses, glare
control, and variations in daylight availability. Additionally, window size and spacing, glass
selection, the reflectance of interior finishes, and the location of interior partitions all must
be considered. Furthermore, there are many different types of daylight fixtures and each
has its own unique set of design considerations.
From the earliest caves, daylight informed the lives of the inhabitants, initially in the
difference between night and day; but as dwellings became more sophisticated, by means
of openings or windows letting in light. The history of architecture is synonymous with the
history of the window and of day lighting from the initial crude openings, letting in light and
air, heat and cold, the window was the vehicle for the introduction of daylight, and
ultimately to the wondrous interiors of the mediaeval cathedral, the Baroque churches or
the many private buildings of the eighteenth century. The window has developed over the
centuries, but its purpose of letting in daylight has remained its primary role; window
openings required a suitable infill to modify the external climate. At first various materials
were used, such as thin slabs of marble, sheets of mica or oiled paper, but it was not until
the development of glass for windows that substantial progress could really be made.
Day lighting is a kind of passive strategy to improve energy performance and users’ visual
comfort without expensive installation and operational cost. It is an important factor in
interior design affecting the functional arrangement of spaces, occupant comfort (visual
and thermal), structure, and energy use in buildings. It gives people a feeling of exuberance
and brightness that can be a significant positive effect.

The impact of colour and lighting conditions on the emotions and performance of people is
gaining great importance for urban societies because people nowadays spend their time in
confined spaces. Taking back all the other architectural elements, the spatial image is
structured by the power of light and thus separated from all similar spaces. The power of
meaning in these areas also affects the emotions of users. The most important need for
people in the interior spaces of buildings is illumination. Nowadays, natural lighting
methods have begun to be preferred as energy efficiency in newly constructed buildings.
Natural light has an important role because of its energy saving and positive effects on
users because it does not need artificial illumination. Besides, intelligent daylight utilization
in buildings by using innovative day lighting systems in combination with daylight
responsive control of electric lighting positively effects among human response and cost
evaluation of the lighting system and increases energy efficiency. When daylight is designed
as a basic light source in buildings, it creates dynamic spaces that support human health
and actions and reduce the energy needs of buildings. Because of these reasons as well as
the development of various design tools (i.e. scale models, mathematical formulas,
computer programs), there has been an increasing interest in natural lighting design.
Certainly, the use of natural daylight is considered one of the main strategies for all
bioclimatic, passive solar and / or high-quality environmental design. In the study, the
usage and importance of natural light in spatial design is elaborated by taking into
consideration the literature.
Usage of Natural Light in Spatial Design:

Every designer should know how to use the light and use the daylight as much as possible
when designing the space. In a space design, taking natural light as a structural element
reveals in different and original results in the design Le Corbusier, one of the founders of
modernism, is a masterful architect who has given great importance to the use of natural
light. In the villas (i.e. Villa Savoye), they have carried natural light to interior spaces by
using band windows, corner windows, large glass surfaces and light courtyards. Natural
lighting should be addressed from the beginning of the design and initial ideas and
considered by the spatial designer in various stages of the design from general ideas to
details. By the way, many computer programs are capable of making detailed solar analyses
of lighting, based on three-dimensional model of a given environment and building.
It is important to consider how much light is used for the purpose in which the natural light
is used and the natural light is used. Increasing the clarity in the buildings with the progress
in the technology allows the daylight to be used in different effects, but its unconscious use
causes a negative effect in terms of architecture. Therefore, it is necessary to start the
daylight design in the working places with the first sketches of the spatial design process.
Considering biospheres factors, the spaces should be located in the right direction
according to their functions and needs. It is more correct that some decisions should be
taken in the main design process instead of the add-on solutions afterwards when
considering the whole with sustainable design strategies.
Natural lighting strategies aim to capture and spread a maximum of natural daylight to
avoid visual discomfort. A clever use of natural daylight will thus help reducing the energy
consumption spent on lighting while still providing adequate illumination. These natural
lighting strategies must be designed to simultaneously meet the needs of the users and the
requirements of the building, thus finding a balance between the conflicting needs of
transmission and protection. However, determining sunlight solutions for energy efficiency,
comfort and prosperity can be a very complex task. To control the amount and distribution
of natural light entering a space and to guarantee a comfortable and healthy luminous
environment, in general a good day lighting strategy should be composed of more than a
simple opening in the window or on the roof. Depending on climate, functions and
requirements, customized solutions or devices may need to be implemented.
The factors influencing on daylight and natural lighting design are examined in three
groups. The day, the hour, the sky status (closure rate of the air), the sun’s position and the
location of the building affecting brightness and amount of daylight appear in the first
group. The openings (windows) necessary for the daylight to penetrate into the building are
in the second group. The building is regarded as an optical system in which the light
distributed. The dimensions of the windows, the shape and the structural properties of the
surfaces influence this distribution. The position, the size, the height and grade of the
windows also affect the amount of light received in the area.
Daylight is generally taken into the building in two ways; side and top. The direction, size
and location of the light are designed according to the actions in the area and the
atmosphere to be created. The light from the top can be more advantageous than the light
from the other directions because the light quality in the space remains the same as the
direction and angle of light are not changed much throughout the day. This light is
preferred especially in libraries, galleries and art workshops, since it is homogenously
distributed and does not dazzle. The light from the side windows shows variability in the
space during day. The light quality of the same place in the morning will not be the same as
that at sunset. This indicates that users can differently perceive the space at different times
of the day. Turkish famous architect, Mimar Sinan, having modern architectural traces in his
works has skilfully used the light coming from vertical windows in his mosque designs. The
light, entering the area, gives a spiritual atmosphere and directly affects the spatial image.
Horizontal lights are commonly used in offices, schools, and in hospitals.
It is important that the dimensions of the windows are adjusted to balance the energy
consumption of the buildings. Practical window design decisions can assist designer to
provide effective and healthy natural lighting for interiors .Furthermore, the simple
modification of the window glass and shading device can provide a significant improvement
in the quantity and quality of tropical daylight for visual comfort. Another important feature
in terms of openness. If it is thought that three viewing angles are stacked vertically, it is
usually better to have a long, thin window instead of a short, wide opening to obtain as
much information as possible from the viewpoint, if the window area is limited.
Nevertheless, this design choice should be balanced by the risk of extreme thermal gain and
overheating, because long windows tend to be more exposed to high-angle summer
sunshine, but they have the advantage of bringing more of the natural light to the area. On
the contrary, the horizontal windows guarantee a better view of the outside view. If the
window is available, passengers will add the option to use for ventilation.
Day lighting in the buildings is usually done using windows or roof skylights. In addition to
these methods, techniques such as light shelves, light tubes and various glass types have
been developed to provide visual comfort and energy savings. The use of these systems,
which can be called modern techniques in the use of daylight in buildings, is becoming
increasingly widespread. Day lighting systems range from simple static (louvers, light-
shelves, fixed overhangs, laser-cut panels, prismatic elements, etc.) to adaptable dynamic
elements (blinds, advanced glazing, holographic optical elements, etc.), and/or
combinations of these. Good day lighting strategies start from exploring simple solutions
(window size, placement, self-shading, etc.) and then integrating advanced elements if
required. Natural lighting systems should be selected appropriately considering the
geography and climate of the region. If systems without appropriate local conditions are
used, the efficiency of the system will be low.
Some of the innovative daylight systems, such as light guiding panes and light pipes, can be
used to improve the day lighting performance for the interior of the deep plan offices. In
general, office-building designs are suitable for effective daylight use, and appropriate
daylight-linked lighting controls can maintain more than 25% of total electrical lighting
usage. Simple active systems with LCPs or rotating LCPs and passive reflected light pipes
have great potential as daylight solutions for deeply planned buildings as they can
contribute to reducing overall energy consumption, improving workplace health and being
a spatial design element.
A light-shelf is a highly efficient day lighting system .However, the improvements in the
daylight performance of the light shelves are limited because the light shelves can give
external natural light to the interior by reflecting the light rather than a specific area of the
interior .The light shelf system and the automatic control system, the energy saving are 25%
in spring and autumn, 19.5% in winter and 11.4% in summer. The most basic and new
design element used to direct the light is the light shelves.