Daylight Factor Research of the Underwater Restaurant
This research was a course work on the subject "Daylight Illumination and Insolation" in university. The aim was to calculate the Daylight Factor for the dining room of the restaurant Under in Norway by architectural bureau Snøhetta and to compare the results with following values:
- mean daylight factor value in the research area should be not less than 1%;
- mean illuminance value in the research area should be not less than 200 lux.
I was curious whether it is possible to provide the underwater space with the required amount of daylight. This restaurant became an excellent example for the course research.
Floor plans and Section by Snøhetta
As a research area in the dining room the space where dining tables are placed was chosen. An area sized 6x10 meters will be studied.
Floor plan of restaurant level by Snøhetta with the research area
It was no issue to study daylight factor for the aboveground space but to study it when located underground it was necessary to calculate coefficients to convert the values considering the depth.
A chart below (left) was found in the book Basics of Ocean Optics. It shows how the immersion depth influences the light transmission for four different types of ocean water: 1 - ocean water of high transparency, 2 - ocean water of medium transparency, 3 - coastal water of medium transparency, 4 - muddy water.
The restaurant is located just by the coast, so I created a graph in Excel to find the exact coefficient values for immersion depth from 2 to 5 meters (the graph has the best convergence below 5).
Chart from the book Basics of Ocean Optics (left), Graph for Muddy water
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In Rhinoceros the model of the restaurant was created. Using Grasshopper and LadyBug (HoneyBee) the daylight factor of the research area was calculated.
Daylight factor (%) heatmap in the research area if the restaurant was aboveground
To calculate daylight factor of the underwater research area the window surface was divided into 20 horizontal sections with a different transparency coefficient each.
Divided window (left), a part of a Grasshopper script (right)
The heatmap of daylight factor values for an underwater research area is presented below.
Daylight factor (%) heatmap in the research area in the underwater restaurant
Mean value equals 1,41%.
1,41% > 1,0%
1,41% > 1,0%
With the 3D plots below one can compare the evenness of daylight factor dispensation in the studied area when placed aboveground (left plot) and underwater (right plot). When placed underwater the peak values are moved into the room and the evennes of daylight factor dispensation is decreased.
Comparison of 3D plots of Daylight factor (%)
When 5 meters underwater peak DF value was decreased by ~10 times (from 33,99% to 3,68%),
mean DF value was decreased by ~7,4 times (from 10,13% to 1,41%).
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Also the illuminance values were calculated for the research area. A heatmap for illuminance if the restaurant was aboveground one can see below.
Illumanance (lux) heatmap in the research area if the restaurant was aboveground
The heatmap of iluuminance values for an underwater research area is presented below.
Illuminance (lux) heatmap in the research area in the underwater restaurant
Mean value equals 347,07 lux.
347,07 lux > 200 lux
347,07 lux > 200 lux
With the 3D plots below one can compare the evenness of illuminance dispensation in the studied area when placed aboveground (left plot) and underwater (right plot). When placed underwater there is a decrease of values right after the peak row along the window and then the trend of illuminance dispensation is the same as aboveground.
Comparison of 3D plots of Illuminance (lux)
When 5 meters underwater peak illuminance value was decreased by ~14,2 times (from 18218 lux to 1284 lux), mean DF value was decreased by ~7,5 times (from 2613,82 lux to 347,07 lux).
Renders below show the approximate light despensation. On the right analytical render one can compare the values all over the space of the research area.
Luminance render (left), Luminance analytical falsecolour render (right)
To derive a conclusion, despite a big decrease of both daylight factor and illuminance the mean values satisfies the conditions:
Daylight factor: 1,41% > 1,0%;
Illuminance: 347,07 lux > 200 lux.
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Thank you for reading!
Rhinoceros+Grasshopper
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