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Leaving aside the rock and cave dwellings of primitive man, it is the Roman courtyard house that typifies the early development of domestic architecture, illustrating the role played by daylight in establishing its form and taking into account the influences of climate and culture.

The Roman house needed to provide shade to combat heat while at the same time delivering light to the interior. The form developed was a courtyard plan with an entrance atrium. This form, upon which our modern atria are based, was enclosed on all sides by buildings with roofs sloping to a columned peristyle or walkway around a courtyard.

Rooms would generally be lit from large doorways off this courtyard, or from small windows to the street or garden beyond. The problem here was not so much to admit maximum daylight as to reduce solar gain to an acceptable level — the effect of climate on form.

The design of the mediaeval house in England responded to the feudal social structure as well as to a different and colder climate. Houses were often dominated by a large communal hall. For climatic reasons daylight openings were generally of restricted size and controlled by the use of wooden shutters or by a variety of translucent materials such as mica, parchment, or oiled linen.

The use of glass became more generally available by the 15th century, allowing large expanses of weather-sealed glazing. Windows were essentially asymmetrical, being located to satisfy the needs of the interior, and there are many examples of such houses where the interiors are beautifully modeled by daylight, gaining immeasurably from the changing variety of light available.

The Renaissance in Italy saw a formalization of the window pattern within symmetrical facades, often paying little regard to the interior spaces behind. While the long facades of the palaces of the merchant princes gave an impression of grandeur and solidity, the needs of daylighting dictated that the plans were limited to 50 to 65 feet (15 to 20 meters) using courtyards or gardens at the rear.

Such bilateral daylighting was not dissimilar to that available in the traditional office block today. The windows were generally vertical, and with tall ceilings, this ensured maximum penetration of light. Building heights being limited to two to three stories prevented the shading of other facades.

The Queen's House at Greenwich, designed by the architect Inigo Jones in the 17th century, saw the development of the toplit internal room which allowed deeper-plan buildings. A well documented example of this is Keddleston Hall.

Perhaps the best-known house, and one that had a significant influence on the houses in England, is the Palladian Villa at Vicenza, from which Chiswick House was derived, based around a central dome admitting daylight.

Moderating Light

The 18th century saw much refinement of window detailing. One important aspect of window design of the period was the manner in which the light was graded into the interior, to reduce the harsh contrast between the brightness outside and the brightness within.

This was a lesson well learnt many years before, as illustrated by the curved window embrasures at the Château de Chenonçeau in the Loire, which introduces daylight into the bridge, articulating the pattern of light and shade and leading the eye forward.

The house of the architect Sir John Soane (now the Soane Museum) in Lincolns Inn Fields in London, built in the late 18th century, epitomizes the use of daylight in domestic architecture.

Soane introduced light into the interior from exterior walls by a subtle grading of the light, by using deep chamfered reveals to vertical windows. In order to admit daylight into a deep interior he adopted the use of a wide variety of domes and other forms of overhead daylight.

The narrow-fronted houses along the canals of Amsterdam with their high rooms and large windows, represent a further example of the importance given to the quality of daylight. Painters such as Vermeer were greatly influenced in their work by natural light, modifying and directing it by simple controls such as shutters. The Dutch have a great understanding and love of daylight as can be seen not only in their domestic architecture but also in the design of their great churches.

More recently, the structural revolution of the modern movement in the 1930s allowed wrap-around and strip windows which filled the whole frontages of houses, as in the Connell Ward and Lucas house at Moore Park, a celebration of sunlight and view.

The Maison de Verre in Paris, with its whole walls of glass block, illustrates as no other the fascination for glass and daylight of the period.

This short historical introduction has been based for simplicity on domestic architecture, but it should be sufficient to emphasize the importance of daylight in all interiors and show how the structure of buildings has been influenced by the external environment in different climates and at different periods of history.

Derek Phillips is a retired architect and lighting consultant and is one of the top lighting designers in the United Kingdom. He is former president of the Illuminating Engineering Society and consultant to UNESCO on ancient monuments in Sri Lanka.

This article is excerpted from Lighting Modern Buildings, copyright © 2000, available from Architectural Press and from Amazon.com.

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A mediaeval hall lit during the day by unglazed windows, with shutters for climate control. At night the hall was lit by candles and a central fireplace. (Weald and Downland Museum, Singleton). Photo: Derek Phillips Chiswick House exterior showing the central dome admitting daylight. Photo: Derek Phillips The 1930s house by Connell Ward and Lucas illustrates how new developments in structure allowed wraparound windows to increase daylight. Photo: Derek Phillips The deep, single-story building at Stansted Airport allows the whole interior to be lit by roof lights. Photo: Derek Phillips Maxwell Fry designed this house in Chipperfield for both daylight and view. Photo: Derek Phillips Lighting Modern Buildings, published by Architectural Press. Image: Architectural Press   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.