Façade design and our experience of space: the joint impact of architecture and daylight on human perception and physiological responses

Daylight has an undeniable impact on our spatial experience, which has been broadly acknowledged in architecture [1]–[4]. However, current lighting practices and metrics tend to limit sunlight penetration, a trend that can lead to monotonous light landscapes [5]. Although daylight characteristics such as contrast and luminance variation [6]–[10], as well as their spatial distribution [11], [12], have been repeatedly linked with impressions of interest in lighting research, we have limited knowledge on how the façade geometry and the resulting sunlight patterns affect perception. This work investigates the architect’s intuition on how façade geometry can impact occupant perception and compares this intuition with the evaluations of people experiencing scenes with different façade geometries.