Managing daylight: Using this serendipitous natural force for lumens and enlightenment.

Daylight is a valuable resource as it provides contact with the outside and is a free source of light It needs careful management, however, as it can cause glare and overheating in the summer. Ignoring these problems leaves the occupants little choice but to modify daylight by their own inelegant means. People generally prefer light from above rather than the side, so high level glazing and roof lights are more comfortable and are actually more efficient sources of daylight.

RELATED ARTICLE: Concrete structural fins act as shading devices on the north-south axis. Additional shading control is provided between the layers of glass in the roof which also acts as an air plenum to extract excessive solar gain before the heat gets into the gallery adding to the cooling load.

Centre for the Contemporary Arts, Rome. Light distribution is modelled with the Lightscape computer program. Colour indicates light intensity.