Open skylights were used in Ancient Roman architecture, such as the oculus of the Pantheon. Glazed ‘closed’ skylights have been in use since the Industrial Revolution and made advances in glass production manufacturing. Mass production units since the mid-20th century have brought skylights to many uses and contexts. Energy conservation has brought new motivation, design innovation, transmission options, and efficiency rating systems for skylights.
Prior to the Industrial Revolution, it was Spain and France that probably had the leading technology in architectural glass. One of the earliest forms of glass skylight can be seen at the Burgos Cathedral in the Chapel of the Constable. Other early forms of glass skylight can be seen at the Palace of Versailles in the Galerie des Batailles, which was added onto the existing palace by Louis Philippe in 1830. Another form that displays early sky lighting technology is the Halle aux blés (Paris) built in 1763–67. This form of natural overhead lighting allowed for illumination while decoration could cover the entire interior wall, and it is the option least obstructed by other buildings. This means that sky lighting as we know it, in many forms today, was probably pioneered in France during the early 18th century or late 17th century. According to architectural glass, the earliest functional skylights would have been formed by either glass casting, crown glass (window), cylinder blown sheet, and machine drawn cylinder sheet, or Fourcault process.
Why should you consider skylights for your project?
Studies show that building structures which utilise skylights, in combination with vertical windows, tend to be more energy efficient. Skylights help in making a major contribution to energy efficiency and comfort, it can admit more than three times as much light as a vertical window of the same size and distributes the same evenly resulting in savings in energy and improving the overall visual comfort levels of the occupants. The scarcity of land has made the space for proper ventilation and lighting restricted. Apart from that, sometimes, homeowners consider safety reasons and choose to have fewer window openings in the walls. In such conditions fixing skylights in the roof is the best solution as skylights bring natural light and air into areas that normally would not have windows.
Skylights also increase the convenience of internal spaces which otherwise are dependent on supplementary artificial ventilation or lighting. They permit added flexibility in the architectural design. Also, even under grey conditions, the use of skylights ensures that the spaces are mostly lit by natural light, with very little or no extra artificial lighting.
We all have a predilection to well lit, inviting spaces, so increasing the use of glazing products in the built environment is almost always an efficient way of improving an internal space.
There are plenty of benefits to bringing natural light into a building – from boosting occupants’ wellbeing, through to saving energy. Roof windows, rooflights and skylights are all popular options for letting the sunshine in and improving the look and feel of an internal area.
The physical size of the skylight greatly affects the illumination level and temperature of the space below. As a rule of thumb, the skylight size should never be more than 5% of the floor area in rooms with many windows and no more than 15% of the room’s total floor area for spaces with few windows. If you want to maximise daylighting potential, consider a skylight’s position. Skylights on roofs that face north provide fairly constant but cool illumination.
Those on east-facing roofs provide maximum light and solar heat gain in the morning. West-facing skylights provide afternoon sunlight and heat gain. South-facing skylights provide the greatest potential for desirable winter passive solar heat gain than any other location, but often allow unwanted heat gain in the summer.
Why use flat roof products from Metal & Glass?
With significant experience in the industry and a passion for outstanding design, we are setting the standard in frameless glazing. Our flat roof products are based on finding elegant solutions to the increasingly sophisticated needs of the glazing market and maximising natural daylight in any location.
We only use high quality British components that have been specifically sourced to fit with our skylight designs. This allows us to ensure that the finished product meets the exact specifications of all our customers.
Our Flat Rooflight system boasts large thermal breaks for exceptional thermal performance. Using a minimalist aluminium structure is always key to our frameless skylight designs, while also being very versatile, allowing our flat rooflight products to be supplied as either double or triple glazed.
Our Flat Rooflights should be pitched at 5 degrees as an industry standard to ensure minimal pooling on the Rooflight. We use high specification glazing in the manufacturing of our flat rooflight, lantern and walk-on designs.
FLAT ROOFLIGHT SPECIFICATION
