The lighting of buildings / by the Lighting Committee of the Building Research Board of the Department of Scientific & Industrial Research.
- Great Britain. Building Research Board
- Date:
- 1944
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The lighting of buildings / by the Lighting Committee of the Building Research Board of the Department of Scientific & Industrial Research. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![ae LIGHTING AND VISION | into the iting? and to develop a sense of “‘transparency”’ in glazed screens: contrasts would then have to be kept low, by dark window bars or by adequate lighting in the interior. If he merely wishes the window to count as points of dark emphasis, he would again use dark window bars. On the other hand, if it is to be his deliberate aim to reduce visibility into rooms, or to give emphasis to the details of fenestration, high contrast will be desirable. 14. Light walls and decorations are commonly stated to make a room appear larger, and it is interesting to recall that fifty years ago the opposite was thought to be true. A Victorian writer in a book written on the Art of Housekeeping,! says that —..-.a dark-wall . ... enlarges the apparent size of the room. ...”’- Suc contrasting advice suggests that perhaps the true functions of either course are not fully appreciated. If apparent size is in fact the aim, one might expect the Victorian adviser to be near the mark, because dark tones are certainly less obvious than light ones and therefore must contribute to a sense of recession. ‘Dufton describes a case in point [The Builder, Vol. 162, 13th February 1942 (Letter to the Editor)]. A fairly large room with a low ceiling was decorated in light cream, yet seemed oppressive. It was redecorated, using a matt black ceiling together with an optical illusion to give the impression of a low vault, and it is reported that the sense of oppression was removed. There is no reason to doubt that the appearance of recession one would expect from any surface of such low brightness contributed materially to the success of this experiment, and in fact it seems reasonable to suppose that light surfaces, rather than apparently enlarging a room, would make its shape more obvious, especially by bringing out the subtle changes in tone values which indicate the change from one plane to another. One well-recognized advantage of light decorations is the value of reflection, which, with artificial lighting systems in particular, makes an important difference to the illumination of a room. Another, less obvious, point concerns the relation between the brightness of the light sources and of the decoration, and brings in strong by comparison with older types of equipment, and when put into a dull or darkly decorated room the contrast may make it seem much too bright. In this respect light decorations can be used to lift the whole tone value of a room to a level more in keeping with the brightness of a strong source, and will serve also to reduce contrasts with windows. On the other hand, if a room with dark decoration such as panelling has to be lighted, some caution has to be exercised to secure adequate illumination while avoiding harsh contrasts in light. 15. Proper decoration has also a specific contribution to make to working efficiency. Machinery, for example, is now sometimes coloured to provide restful background effects, and to clarify the motion of many parts. Warning guards and levers are painted in saturated hues of red, bright orange or yellow to draw attention to them; walls, and even floors, are treated in medium or light tones of colours suitably adjusted to give relief and relaxation to the eyes, and to provide suitable contrasts with the decoration of machines and surrounding features. 16. Colour for the general decoration of rooms is commonly the subject of and cool colours in those which face south to compensate for the exposure. Other designers point to the fact that the light is then badly suited to bring out the it than south light. We would hesitate to be dogmatic, and there is a suggestion usefully experiment on this matter. 1 Haweis, H. R., The Art of Housekeeping, pub. 1889.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b3217164x_0013.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
