Lighting in schools.

  • Department of Education and Science
Date:
1967
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Lighting in schools. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    5 Particular applications 164. This section discusses the application of the general principles set out in Sections 1 to 3 to the various parts of a school in turn. It does not pretend to be comprehensive, or to deal with every corner of the school. The examples given are merely illustra- tions of some of the solutions to a number of the more common lighting problems that arise in school design. There can be no substitute for the designer in each case finding out how the various spaces in the school are to be used, and then designing appropriate lighting from first principles. 165. The headings under which the different activi- ties will be dealt with are as follows: The School as a Whole General Teaching Spaces General lighting Reduction of glare Visual character Practical Work Art Housecraft Light crafts Workshop crafts Technical drawing Physics /Chemistry /Biology Visual Aids Chalkboard and display areas Demonstration work Projection equipment Communal and Assembly Areas Assembly hall Dining areas Common rooms Administration Physical Education Gymnasiums Sports halls Swimming pools Outdoor floodlighting Circulation Areas Lighting and the design of the school as awhole 166. The lighting of she various parts will of course have to be considered in the context of the planning and design of the school as a whole, which will be determined by three main factors: existing site con- ditions, educational needs, and economic considera- tions. These three influences on the design may not always be compatible. For example, the educational brief may be satisfied best by a compact plan on one level, but the restrictions of the site may nevertheless dictate a multi-storey building. At the same time the need for high standards of lighting during the day can be met in two ways: (a) full daylighting which will require a building with a complicated coastline and section — in itself inherently expensive, or (b) by the use in the deep rooms of P.S.A.L.I. which, al- though also costly, may still be the most satisfactory lighting solution, considering the building as a whole. Such conflicts will have to be resolved in the course of each design. In the same way, the lighting requirements of the individual rooms will interact with the overriding needs of the whole school. The starting point for lighting design must always be the activities of the users of the school and an under- standing of their visual needs. The designer should know the likely mode of use of the various spaces in the building, and thus the character required in them, which the design of the lighting and colour should help to develop. 167. At the same time, the lighting will be considered alongside other aspects of the physical environment, such as heating (e.g. solar heat gain through win- dows, or heat emitted by artificial light fittings). The light fittings will also be designed and positioned in relationship to other elements, in particular the ceiling. It may, for example, be possible and econ- omic to design the light fittings as an integral part of the ceiling (see paragraph 114). General teaching spaces 168. The majority of classrooms in existing schools were designed for groups of thirty to forty children in rooms of 500 sq ft to 650 sq ft, arranged mainly for formal teaching with the children seated at their desks and facing in one direction. The use of the room is, therefore, static and the lighting problem a relatively simple one. 169. However, general teaching spaces are not al- ways as predictable as this, and increasingly new teaching requirements are calling for rooms of a great variety of shapes and sizes. At one end of the age range, a ‘classroom’ to meet the needs of forty of the youngest children in an infants’ school may be a large area of 700 sq ft to 900 sq ft, designed with bays and corners, and subdivided temporarily or perman- ently to contain a wide range of activities which are going on at the same time: reading, painting, making things, sewing, acting. At the other end of the scale, a common room for sixth-formers will need to be a large space or group of spaces suited to their many- sided activities: debates, discussion groups, lectures, private study, table tennis, dances, conversation, chess, and relaxation. 170. The character of the lighting suitable for these two extremes is unlikely to be the same; for the younger children a homely atmosphere may be the aim, while for the older ones a more sophisticated character will be preferred. But both have a number of important lighting requirements in common, based on the fact that each room will be used in a variety of different ways. However, the work done in them is unlikely to include the most difficult visual tasks. These main lighting requirements have been discussed earlier in this Bulletin and, while they summarised usefully here: j
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