natural light

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Right Light, Right Place, Right Time

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Right Light, Right Place, Right Time

Steve Tonkin is the Dark Sky Advisor to Cranborne Chase National Landscape, in Wiltshire. Cranborne Chase is a designate Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty that, since 2019, has been recognised as an International Dark Sky Reserve.

Steve can pinpoint 4 October 1957 as the first became aware of dark skies. His family were, at the time, living 8 miles outside Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and his father took him outside to see if they could see Sputnik which had been launched the previous day. It was his first time looking up at a pristine dark sky and it triggered a life-long passion for astronomy which has made him aware of the effects of light pollution, and he has been raising the issue with anyone who will listen for the last 30 years.

After a first career as a telecommunications engineer, he did a BSc in Human Environmental Studies, then postgraduate work in technology policy, before training as a teacher. He taught physics, maths and astronomy in a variety of settings for 35 years, before retiring from teaching to concentrate on astronomy outreach activities. He has written several books on practical astronomy, has a monthly column in BBC Sky at Night Magazine, and is a regular speaker on astronomical topics.

Starting with a programme he made for BBC Radio Bristol in the 1980s, Steve has long been an advocate of reducing light pollution. He supported the Cranborne Chase’s International Dark Sky Reserve bid as a volunteer, taking sky quality readings and supporting the stargazing evenings by giving talks and showing people the night sky. His primary task as Dark Skies Advisor is to continue and consolidate the good work that has already been done and strengthen the Cranborne Chase’s standing as an International Dark Sky Reserve.

Light pollution is a global issue. The pollution itself is known to affect human health and wildlife behaviour and that is before considering the wasted energy involved in sending light upwards instead of downwards to where it is required. To take a Biophilic approach to the design of lighting is to reduce light pollution with direct and indirect benefits to nature… READ ON and LISTEN to the PODCAST…

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The Fluid Beauty of Light - Lighting the Workplace

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The Fluid Beauty of Light - Lighting the Workplace

We are diurnal species, we were born under natural light, we have an ingrained ability to imagine and contextualise natural light in our heads. A Biophilic approach to lighting pulls on those cues inwards into the built environment. We spend hours and hours inside, and in the workplace we need spaces that will empower us to do our best work, to flourish, to keep us healthy and as a simple baseline, to also enjoy coming to work. Gary Thornton is speaking at the Workplace Trends “Evolving Ways of Working” conference on 18 October 2022 in London and we catch up with him beforehand to discuss just how should we be applying Biophilic lighting to our Workplaces.

A lot of things in the workplace are static, but what can shift during the day is lighting. It can influence our behaviour, the look and feel of a space, more so than any other discipline. That is one reason why lighting is so important, but is also one of the unsung heroes of a space. Historically, we have lit spaces for paper-based work, instead of considering a great deal of our work is screen-based, so there is a lot of overlighting. In this podcast, Gary outlines a lighting schema that considers first how people use the space, how to enhance not only the horizontal space (desks etc) but also the verticals (the walls which can look drab and dull if not lit properly). He suggests lighting spaces which create an experience, a destination to enhance the wellbeing and also positive perception and feeling of a space.

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Pioneer Nature Method in Architecture

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Pioneer Nature Method in Architecture

How can we work with the landscape more as architects and designers to not only create beautiful spaces but ones that also have a positive impact on our and nature’s wellbeing? We speak with Stephen Melvin, of Atelier Architects who desribes himself as a “landscape facilitator”. How he looks at how the landscape itself is structured and presents itself and then see how to weave the design into the natural space. He has developed the “Pioneer Nature Method” which he tells us about in this podcast.

Steve highlights the need to respect that underlying process of nature that will outlive us, how we need to build in and with the landscape and really consider how our buildings can live with nature. By talking through images shown in the video accompanying this podcast (viewable on YouTube and also on the Journal of Biophilic Design website here), he shows us a project as a case study, so we can follow his thought processes from concept through to render, looking at different aspects from materials, light, air to how people will use the space and also how it represents the client’s aims too.

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Let there be Light... and Circadian Rhythms

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Let there be Light... and Circadian Rhythms

How much do we love to be outside on a fresh bright day, clear blue sky, gentle breeze on our skin, fresh air in our lungs? Our whole body seems rejuvenated and reborn. Well, it's not just all in the mind, it is a physical reaction too. Living in harmony with nature and natural rhythms as we can, keeps us happy and healthy. Eloise Sok-Paupardin, occupant experience and sustainability lead for SageGlass, discusses how important natural light is, how views are essential to our wellbeing as well as regulation of temperature, and more.

When we mess up the natural rhythms of the day by using too much of the same brightness and colour light for hours and hours a day, we mess up our internal body clock.

Eloise demonstrates the new Sageglass technology, an intelligent glass that reacts to sunlight, and which can be manually activated to reduce glare, heat through the glass, vary the amount of sunlight, etc, while still maintaining views outside.

This a really interesting video and podcast, as Eloise stresses the need for everyone's "right to light" and how it is important to create beautiful and good design, but never at the price of the planet…

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