Light is the Way

Once we had chosen the building that we wanted to buy our new flat in, we were faced with the decision of which of the remaining unsold flats would suit us best. We knew what size of flat we required, and that it had to be far enough away from a main road that we would get some peace in summer when we had the windows open. Our old flat overlooked a main road, including one of the most frequently used bus stops in the city - you can imagine the noise in the summer when we had to have the front window open to get some air in, and what the air quality was like when a smokey diesel bus pulled out from the bus stop.

The block lies on a north-south axis, the south end overlooking the pleasant gully and the larger flats there have windows on two sides - although this was not a concern for us with as these had already sold. There was another block to the west, and a company had permission to build a block a similar distance to the east, so no benefits there. Did we want sun in the morning or in the evening, well if it was in the morning it would be bright to wake up to but dull in the evenings when we were more likely to be home. The clincher was the alignment of the flats - those on the east had their shortest dimension against the outside wall, meaning they only had two sets of windows and poor light penetration to the rear wall, while those on the west had their longest dimension against the outside, giving them three sets of windows and fair light penetration into the depths. We wanted light and we knew what we wanted to do with it.

Light is life, and that natural stuff is much easier to block out when you have too much than to regain when you have permanent obstacles in the way. We would have preferred larger windows, but this is Lublin where the need to hide from the neighbours is still a prevalent belief. The original design of the flat meant that the bedroom was shut off on its own with a single window, while the other two sets lit the combined living room and kitchen. The entrance corridor ran along the rear wall and could only be lit by natural light if you opened either the bedroom door, the living room door or the front door. The bathroom, at the opposite end of the corridor from the entrance, had no window. By engaging an architect to create suitable drawings, we had the opportunity of change the location and even existence of the standard walls. In the end we had fewer walls than the standard model, and the reduced amount of materials required offset the cost of the redesign.

Light coming in from one window does not simply light the space in front of one window, it goes everywhere it can, gradually being absorbed by the surfaces it is expected to bounce off. If you walk into a blackened old railway tunnel the light is quickly absorbed and it gets dark quickly. If, on the other hand, you walk into a new concrete tunnel, it remains light further into the tunnel as less light is absorbed by the walls on each bounce. Light coloured, shiny walls keep the light from being absorbed longer, unlike curtains or most furnishings. Those curtains, carpets and sofas absorb light like a vacuum cleaner does dust, and we have no curtains, no carpets and only a small leather sofa.

The wall between the living area and the corridor disappeared from our design, and the corner of the bedroom, helping to hide the front door from the living area, was shaved off and replaced with a diagonal wall, this diagonal wall being invisible in the bedroom as it is hidden inside the built-in wardrobe. These changes made the living area much larger, we having no fear that someone entering our flat can see the kitchen area immediately, and allowed the natural light to penetrate throughout the flat, including into the bathroom through the small translucent windows mounted in the door. Eventually the wall opposite the windows will have a large mirror to help maintain light levels in the areas furthest from the windows.

The door to the bedroom was supposed to be almost opposite the front, but we removed that so that end of the bedroom could be completely used as a wardrobe; if the wardrobes were on the side walls they would reduce the effective width of the bedroom and form a block for light entering the windows. Any fat objects, such as cupboards, wardrobes, bookcases and chests of drawers should ideally be placed on the far wall, where they will not block light entering the windows. The wall dividing the living space and the bedroom was cut down so it finished about a metre from the ceiling, high enough not to see over but low enough for light to spill over.

The bedroom wall also finished about a metre from the external wall, leaving a gap that we could pass through and hence removing a significant amount of light absorbing material in that vital zone close to the window. If you lose 10% of your light near the windows, that loss affects all the space; but if you lose 10% of the light at a point half way into your space then that really only effects the lighting levels from that point on. Visually this low, short wall increases access, increases total light sharing in the flat and makes the flat appear much larger: the long external wall with the windows is clear from end to end, and when standing in the kitchen much of the bedroom wall can be seen.

To control sunlight in the late afternoon is essential as we live on the top floor and so shortly before the sun sets its rays are dazzling. We have blinds on two of the windows, while the kitchen has a window and glass door to the balcony, but these do not have blinds as we have chosen to install an awning on the balcony instead. The awning converts the balcony into another room, with no loss of communication with the kitchen area, useful since it is pleasant to eat in this much airier place. The awning is orange, one of the few strong colours in the flat, and reminiscent of sunlight at sunset. It also reminds me of childhood camping holidays, but that is another story.

As a result of this our flat is better ventilated, better lit and less prone to causing feelings of claustrophobia than the other flats in our block, and is a much friendlier space as light has a remarkable effect on our feeling of well-being. As darkness falls we have a range of lighting options to choose from, ensuring that the good feelings the space generates continues until it is time to go to sleep.