Summary

This text first traces the history of daylighting and other sources of light, up to the end of the 19th century to show the effect light has had on the form of buildings, and then establishes how architects and designers today should approach the lighting of historic buildings in the context of present day technology. Historic buildings form a large part of a nation's heritage, whether used for their original purpose, such as a theatre, a railway terminus or house, or alternatively where the use has completely changed and the functional requirements of the new outweigh the needs of the old. For example a redundant building transformed into an art gallery.