The environmental design and integration of new technology in Victorian buildings demonstrates a profound understanding that was a combination of experimental scientific advance (e.g. fluid dynamics) and the intuitive application of professional knowledge by architects and engineers. Architects at this time retained direct control of the dimensions of windows, room volumes, air inlets, and chimneys that together constituted the chief variables determining the success or failure of building services.
Arguably much of this tacit knowledge was lost in the first half of the twentieth century; in particular the architect’s understanding of the role of transition spaces such as porches and lobbies, assisting in the process of adaptation from outside to inside, or between spaces with different environmental (thermal, lighting or acoustic) properties.
This paper will examine three significant examples of transition spaces (the House of Commons, the Natural History Museum, and the Glasgow School of Art) and identify step changes in the purpose and design of such spaces. The environmental role of these spaces will be described in relation to the wider evolution of the design, and the developing discipline of building services in the nineteenth century.
The paper will conclude by reflecting on the purpose of transition spaces and how the development of modern heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems has replaced their key role in providing thermal comfort. In recent years, adaptive comfort theory has aided a rediscovery of the importance of these spaces.
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)