Playing with light
The relationship between daylight and sports hall designs in the Netherlands
O.J.L. Veugelers (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
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Abstract
Nowadays it is more desirable for daylight to be the prevalent form of lighting in most types of buildings. However, there has been concern about introducing daylight to sports halls since the design of traditional sports halls has tended to exclude natural light. If one looks at the vast majority of sports halls in the Netherlands where gymnastics is given at primary schools, the sports hall often totally relies on artificial lighting to provide a glare and shadow-free environment. This means that all the benefits of natural light have had to be eliminated. Nevertheless, it is important to see how daylight can be an integral part of the design of a sports facility, because daylight is essential for the health of human beings. This research assesses the arguments facing traditional sports hall designs, to identify whether more contemporary and creative approaches to the design of naturally lit, energy efficient, modern and safe sports hall designs can be made widely obtainable. With this inquiry alternatives are found where daylight is an integral part of the sports halls instead of using only artificial light in order to meet the technical requirements. In addition, more clarity is given on why the current regulations in the Netherlands do not specify daylight requirements for sports facilities.