2019 - Daylight Symposium
"Case Studies by cepezed and its Human Response to Daylight in Architecture" by Ronald Schleurholts
Speakers
Ronald Schleurholts
Presentation from the 8th VELUX Daylight Symposium that took place in Paris on 9 October 2019. For more information please visit http://thedaylightsite.com & https://www.velux.com/veluxdaysinparis
In general, the requirements for buildings are becoming more specific and complex, but the use of daylight remains a challenge. For places and functions that explicitly require daylight, current sustainability standards (like the Dutch BENG standard) often aim to minimize this. In addition, in many building types and for many functions daylight is not a requirement or desire at all. cepezed believes that the architect should then step up its game to, be it unrequested, use the great power of daylight. The office is strongly convinced that daylight delivers better, healthier and more inspiring environments. Therefore, it often brings daylight into places and building types that traditionally or from the program point of view do not require this, such as laboratory buildings, bus stations and parking structures. Needless to say that a good balance and correct dosage are always important.
For innovative daylight solutions, cepezed is inspired by technology applied in other industries such as in horticulture. For example, the office uses a variety of screen types and adaptive ETFE cushions. daylight in the urban environment In urban realm, daylight is generally not mandatory, but in the perception of cepezed it is crucial for a pleasant and (socially) safe city. A typical example of how cepezed also brings day¬light into these types of projects is the underground parking garage of the Grote Markt in Sint-Niklaas (Belgium). The routing in this project is very clear and is always accompa¬nied by daylight.
The recently delivered bus station in Tilburg is a good example as well; its construction is minimal and the awning is made of translucent ETFE; the bus station offers overview and protection against weather, wind and strong sunshine, and in the same time a maximum of daylight and social safety. research buildings Research buildings often contain industrial functions for which no or hardly any daylight requirements apply. cepezed generally introduces (two-sided) daylight into this type of projects, which results in a pleasant, transparent working environment and a lot of visual contact with the environment. Innovative layouts thus contribute to, among other things, a higher wellbeing of employees, better results, more cooperation and increased safety. Best practice examples by cepezed include the research buildings for KWR Watercycle Research Institute, Danone Research, DSM Biotech Delft and Genmab Research schools There is an increasing focus on daylight and its importance for a good and healthy learning environment for school buildings in the Netherlands. On the other hand, requirements regarding, for example, daylight entry and energy consumption are often conflicting and the budgets are usually very tight. Nevertheless, cepezed does also succeed in applying generous daylight in educational buildings and thus boosting the quality of the learning environment. Good examples are the Graafschap College in Doetinchem, the new building for In Holland University of Applied Sciences in Amsterdam and the extension for the Van Doorenveste building at the Hoges¬chool Groningen.
Ronald Schleurholts (Roden, 1972) is an avid advocate of daylight in the built environment. He studied architecture at the Delft University of Technology, where he focused on architecture, construction methods and interior. While he was still studying, he worked for a period at architectural offices Claus & Kaan and Koen van Velsen. He has worked at cepezed since 1999, and was appointed partner and member of the executive board in early 2005. In 2009 the European Centre for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies and the Chicago Atheneum chose Schleurholts as one of the forty most influential upcoming European architects under the age of forty. From 2010 to 2015 he was on the board of the Royal Institute of Dutch Architects (BNA) and between 2011 and 2015 he was chair of the Living Daylights Foundation. In addition, he gives lectures about sustainable and integral design in the Netherlands and abroad.
