The Ojai Section: Daylighting Strategies In Schools by Maynard Lyndon

Author: Ameet Nindra

School: UCLA
Faculty Advisor: Professor Murray Milne

The study describes Lyndon's innovative design goal of achieving balanced daylighting in school classrooms. His design solution involved three main features: a fully glazed north wall, south clerestory windows above a light shelf, and vertical louvers in the ceiling inside the classroom. These elements became known as the 'Ojai Section' after Lyndon used it for the first time in Mieners Oak School in Ojai, California.

The case study examined lighting quality, occupant comfort and user response in schools incorporating the Ojai Section. It includes illumination data collected in the field, interviews and surveys of users, computer models, and physical model tests. Field measurements show that the Ojai Section performs very well in providing an appropriate level of illumination for classroom instruction, making electric lights almost superfluous during daylight hours. The design presents some problems in that it has not allowed for easy incorporation of computers and television monitors in the classrooms. It also offers limited display area because of the expanse of glass at the north and south perimeters of the classrooms. School administrators report that the north facing glass and south clerestories require cleaning and maintenance. Administrators and staff appreciate the daylight in the classrooms, but were not aware that the schools had been specifically designed with this goal in mind. The lack of understanding of the design has presented some problems, particularly in the area of landscaping. At one school trees planted many years ago have grown to a size where they almost completely block light from entering through the south facing clerestories.

Ms. Nindra concludes that the Ojai Section provides well-distributed, balanced illumination in classrooms. It presents some problems in adapting classrooms to meet contemporary technological requirements, but these problems are not insurmountable. The quality of light is excellent and the Ojai Section deserves renewed attention from architects and educators interested in daylighting in schools.

The Vital Signs 1998 Student Case Study Competition was made possible by a grant from The Educational Foundation of America.

"A fascinating story, told well. It's obvious that the users don't understand how these systems work. The students also make clear that there are some problems inherent in the design."

"It's impressive that they included a Lightscape model, a physical model, and field measurements."

"This is such an interesting topic. They did a very good job. If I were to add to the report, it would be nice to have more background material on these schools and to see current information on daylighting in schools."

All contents copyright (C) 1998. Vital Signs Project. All rights reserved.

Created: 10/22/98

http://www-archfp.ced.berkeley.edu/vitalsigns/bld/casestudies/ucla_ojai_ab.html