Residential window: daylight vs visual privacy

Abstract

One primary concern for architects is the design of residential facades and the provision of daylight indoors. However, other factors may influence the daylight design, such as visual privacy that may be desired by the occupants. A review of Islamic literature indicates the importance of visual privacy for the occupants of homes and addressed the religious dimension of privacy. The mashrabiya/rawshan was a façade treatment for houses in traditional Islamic architecture to achieve visual privacy and daylight. A field study was conducted in one of the traditional houses in Bahrain to evaluate the performance of the mashrabiya in providing daylight in the space. In addition, a simulation of same room without any screening was performed to quantify the impact of the mashrabiya on the daylight in the space. The results of this part of the study showed that the performance of daylight throughout the mashrabiya was better, to some extent, than without any screening. The study also investigated the importance of visual privacy and daylight in homes through a survey questionnaire administered in Bahrain. The survey aimed to measure the tradeoff between visual privacy and daylight at home, to explore the current methods used to achieve visual privacy, and to assess the acceptance of methods used in traditional Islamic architecture, as well as the acceptance of the idea of developing these methods in an aesthetically modern way. The study found that the need for visual privacy and daylight for people in the space is strong. This study contributes knowledge of the contradictory relationship between the need for both daylight and visual privacy in residential buildings. It also provides a thorough overview of people’s expectations, needs and desires towards visual privacy and daylighting techniques.