There was a great deal of concern at the conceptual stage of this project about eye adaption walking from a brightly lit space into an exhibition area with levels of no greater than 50 lux. There was also concern as to how we could stop the spill of daylight into the sensitive exhibition areas. After extensive daylight studies and working with the architect, we agreed that the tensile fabric structure covering the main volume that accessed the exhibition spaces should have a transmission factor of no greater than 10 per cent. Each of the exhibition spaces was protected by a solid wall on entry that controlled daylight spill and provided an initial adaption zone. Although academic principles would suggest that the area for eye adaption was insufficient, in reality it was more than adequate for this testing arrangement.

Client: Museum of Coastal Defence
Architect: John Dangerfield