ORIENTATION

The importance of orientation in a building must be considered at the
outset, when the architect is planning the location of the building on the
site, the aim being to ensure the maximum availability of useful natural
light and sunlight to the interior.
There may of course be severe restrictions where the building is set into
a rigid street pattern, or where there are severe external obstructions; but
even in these circumstances the best use of the daylighting available
should be considered. The architect will have the greatest flexibility to get
the building orientation right on a greenfield site, where he can plan the
site layout to take advantage of the sun path and the availability of the
daylight.
Taking an example from residential buildings in the northern hemi-
sphere, and using the simple fact that the sun rises in the east and sets in
the west, it would be normal to ensure that those rooms which might
benefit most from early morning light, such as a kitchen, morning room
or even bedrooms, are placed on the east side, whilst those more likely to
be used in the afternoon or evening such as living rooms face south or
west.
There will of course be debate about the desirability of selecting a
specific orientation for a particular use of room and it will be up to the
architect to discuss this with his client, and there may also be conflict with
the orientation of a room when associated with the ability to enjoy a
particular view.
As with all architecture a compromise will need to be established which
best fits the needs of the interior function. What is essential is that the
orientation of a building and the interior layout takes most advantage of
the daylight available and is a factor taken into consideration at the outset
of the building design.
Each architectural programme whether an office, school or church, will
have its own specific needs of orientation, and this is of special
significance where the interior function is one requiring the inhabitants
to sit in fixed positions, often the case in offices or classrooms.
Another aspect of orientation and one where the mere presence of
daylighting is reassuring, is the subconscious desire of people when
inside a building to keep in touch with the outside world, whether to
know the time of day or the nature of the weather. An example of this
might be taken from the modern shopping centre. The Victorians had got
it right when they introduced overhead daylighting from domes or barrel
vaults to their shopping arcades. But in the 1960s many of our early
shopping centres cut out daylight altogether, leading to people finding it
difficult to negotiate their way around or to find the exits.

Environment , Change and variety . . . modelling . . . orientation . . . sunlight . . . colour . . .

Perhaps the most obvious and certainly the most important aspect of
daylighting is its capacity for change, leading to the infinite variety in
appearance of the daylit interior. Change is at the heart of daylighting,
the human body has a capacity for adaptation, particularly in vision, and
the need to exercise this response.
Perception reacts to a degree of change; it is the natural order of things
that the appearance of interior spaces alter with time; and if we have
confidence in their continuing reality, it is because change in their lit
appearance allows us to continue an exploration of the spaces we inhabit;
an entirely different measure of experience to the static qualities of spaces
lit entirely by artificial sources of light during the day; or where there is
no access to the daylight outside. There is a natural process of renewal in
the photochemical processes of the eye as it adapts to accommodate
changes in daylight
First there is the natural change from day to night, from first light until
dark and the need for artificial sources to take over when daylight fades.
Then there are the changes associated with changes of the weather; from
bright sunny days to dark and cloudy or rainy days, there is little doubt that
the human spirit soars when rising in the morning on a bright day, an
experience which is less likely to happen when it is dark and gloomy outside.
Closely associated with changes in the weather are those of the
changes of season, from the winter snows to summer sunlight; each
season will have its own character, which as human beings we
accommodate to in our own way; but what is important is that the
world outside, as experienced through the window, provides necessary
information of the variety of the exterior world; whilst leading to subtle changes in the appearance of the interior.