Daylighting: everything you need to know about optimising natural light in your office

When it comes to your office, it’s likely you’re already aware of how important it is to ensure the space is accommodating for your employees. However, aside from providing spacious desks, supportive seating and a clean, tidy environment, it’s vital that you also pay attention to the lighting situation. A poorly lit workplace can wreak havoc on the health and happiness of your staff, so if you want to make sure your space is spot on, it’s crucial that you spend some time perfecting this aspect of your office. While you may think that ensuring your overhead lighting is bright enough and in good working order is sufficient, there is so much more you could do - such as practicing ‘daylighting’. You may have heard this term before - but what does it mean? Below, we take a look at this popular design trend and how you can incorporate it into your own office. What is it? In a nutshell, ‘daylighting’ refers to a design process that allows some or all of the artificial lighting in a room to be eliminated by using natural lighting instead. It allows you to optimise natural light to your advantage. Some properties are even designed with this in mind. Architects will often use it as a tool to create complex, impressive building structures. How to achieve it From installing skylights, to solar light tubes, to clerestory windows, there are a number of ways to practice daylighting - if your budget allows it. If not, the good news is, there are some simple ways you can optimise natural light in your workplace without having to undergo an office refit. Simply getting into the habit of keeping window dressings wide open will allow the natural light to seep into the room. To control the amount of sunlight that comes in, you could install vertical blinds. These dressings can be adjusted in regards to how open or closed they are. This is particularly useful for when the sun is at its strongests and you want to avoid unwanted glare. You may also want to give some careful thought to the layout of your office. By positioning workers near windows, they’ll be able to take advantage of the light instead of being cramped in the dark centre of the room. The benefits There are a whole host of benefits associated with daylighting. For example, it could improve the happiness of your employees. Instead of going for bright, dazzling lighting to illuminate a room, allowing natural light to flood into a space can help to create a much more relaxing and calm environment for your employees to enjoy. As a result, it can boost their morale while they’re at work. Since natural light can help improve the mood of your personnel, you can expect a spike in their productivity levels too. When employees are happy, they’re likely to put more effort into their work, which is great news for your bottom line. Daylighting is an innovative design process and there’s no reason why you can’t take elements of this trend on board to optimise the natural light in your workspace.