A Day with Daylight event

On 10 April, Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in the Netherlands hosted an enlightening day full of presentations and talks discussing important topics within the theme of daylight in architecture.

The keynote speaker rijksbouwmeester Francesco Veenstra presents the Daylight Talk titled: ‘Transitional Society; A Delicate Balance.’

Watch the talks below:

About Juliëtte van Duijnhoven

Juliëtte van Duijnhoven is an assistant professor within the Building Lighting group embedded in the unit Building Physics and Services of the department of the Built Environment (TU/e). She brings in expertise on measuring and evaluating lighting conditions in and around the built environment. She works on developing and advancing methods to gather personal lighting conditions of individuals to further progress the insights on the effects of light on human health, performance, and wellbeing. Her main aim is to create sustainable lighting solutions in the built environment incorporating the individual differences in light exposure patterns. She mostly focuses on (home) office environments. Juliëtte is currently involved as mentor in the LIGHTCAP project (https://lightcap.eu/) and as project coordinator in the VETHO project.

Within the TU/e, Juliëtte is member of the Health in the Built Environment (HitBE) team as well as member of the Intelligent Lighting Institute (ILI).

Outside the TU/e, Juliëtte chairs the core team indoor lighting at the Dutch association of light (NSVV). In addition, Juliëtte is active within the CIE (https://cie.co.at/) as member of JTC18 (lighting education) and JTC20 (wearable alpha-opic dosimetry). Furthermore, she is member of the executive committee of the European Lighting Expert Association (ELE-A).

EngD study – Daylight in the Home Office (Verena de Kok, TU/e)

About Verena de Kok

In 2020, Verena obtained her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Technology at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and in 2022 obtained a master’s degree in Human Technology Interaction also at TU/e. During her studies, she developed a great interest in light and lighting, and especially how light can contribute to the health and well-being of people. She is currently expanding her passion for light in the role as Engineering Doctorate (EngD) trainee in the Building Lighting group (faculty of the Built Environment) at TU/e. In collaboration with VELUX, she is working on the development of a personalized recommendation tool for daylight in the home office.

Daylight in the Home Office

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people working from home has risen enormously. A healthy work environment contributes to the health and productivity of employees. Light is one of the factors that are important to establish a healthy work environment. In conventional office spaces, the lighting design is often guided by (inter)national standards and guidelines, thereby meeting at least minimum lighting requirements. However, such standards and guidelines do not currently guide lighting design in the home office context, raising the question of how well the lighting conditions in home offices suit the needs and preferences of home office workers.

Within the scope of Verena’s EngD project, a questionnaire study was conducted to gain insight in the lay-out of Dutch home office spaces, with a focus on daylight-related factors. Based on the questionnaire study,  daylight simulations were conducted for a large range of home office configurations. With the simulation results, Verena has built a tool for people working from home to gain insight in the daylight in their home office, and to give them suggestions for potential improvements. The talk will present the steps of the project and discuss the results.

Subliminal Architecture (Coco van Weelden, Huibers van Weelden Architecten)

About Coco van Weelden

Coco van Weelden graduated summa cum laude from the Technical University of Delft in 2016, with her work earning a nomination for the Archiprix. Since 2014, she has led her own architectural office, overseeing projects spanning diverse typologies, including private residences, offices, and heritage sites.

Driven by a commitment to sustainability, Coco pursued additional studies in Tokyo, Japan, and Gothenburg, Sweden, to deepen her expertise in sustainable architecture. Her professional journey further includes experience gained at the Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), where she worked on the construction phase of the Qatar National Library.

Subliminal Architecture

Coco van Weelden, a partner at Huibers van Weelden Architecten, embarked on her architectural journey fueled by a fundamental question: “What is Architecture?” Her quest delved deep into the language of architecture, exploring every facet that composes a building, from the play of light to the meaning of a wall. Thus, she discovered the powerful role of architecture in conveying messages.

Her passion for infusing architecture with subtle yet profound messages became the cornerstone of her career. As a testament to their approach, Huibers van Weelden Architecten was awarded the Dutch Daylight Award in 2022 for their project, ‘Villa Bos.’ This project is exemplary for the utilization and understanding of daylight, showcasing their commitment to creating spaces that harmonize with nature and elevate the human experience.

Daylight talks keynote Francesco Veenstra (Rijksbouwmeester, Partner at Vakwerk Architecten). 

About Francesco Veenstra

Francesco Veenstra (1973) has been a partner at Vakwerk architecten in Delft since 2017. Before that, he worked at Mecanoo, where he was co-owner from 2007 to 2017. During this period he worked on many social assignments such as the Library of Birmingham, Stadskantoor and station hall Delft, Kaap Skil on Texel and cultural complex Home in Manchester. Francesco Veenstra has extensive experience in projects for cultural organisations, higher education, commercial real estate and infrastructure. Francesco was educated at the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture. Until July of this year, he was chairman of the Association of Dutch Architectural Firms (BNA).

Francesco Veenstra succeeds Floris Alkemade, who has held the position of Government Architect for six years. In the coming years, Veenstra will combine the Government Architectship with working within Vakwerk.

Daylight Talk #19: ‘Transitional Society; A Delicate Balancing Act’ 

We are facing massive challenges. We cannot afford to delay major transitions in society any longer. These transitions all have implications in our cities, the countryside, in industrial areas. In order to better understand which decisions we have to take to meet international climate goals; the transitions towards a circular economy and to a robust natural biodiverse environment we have to put our focus ahead towards the next century. Not in search of interesting vistas, but rather to work backwards in time and identify what action needs to be taken now according to broad-based future studios. We are in search of new answers: not only what we need to do better, but rather what we need to do different.

‘Future daylight Standard’ Gertjan Verbaan (DGMR/Chairman Standardization committee ‘daylight’)

About Gertjan Verbaan, DGMR Consultants, The Hague.

Working at DGMR for over thirty years now. Building Physics keeps you healthy and it’s becoming more important every day. Next to energy transition and comfort in general Gertjan’s personal interests are daylight, acoustics, and parametric design.

For over 18 years a member of the Dutch daylight committee. Contributing with lots of daylight studies to NEN EN 17037 and the practical guideline NPR 4057. Since 3 years the chairman of this committee and more recent also member of the European TC169 WG11.