The elegant expansion of natural light

As demand for higher levels of natural illumination grows, the Rooflight Company’s neo™ collection maximises light ingress with style.

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neo™: the skylight for pitched roofs designed to look like a sheet of glass.

More people than ever are saying that they want more natural light. They are increasingly knowledgeable about health and wellbeing, as well as the energy-saving benefits that natural light provides. Furthermore, they want to create a ‘wow-factor’ with large expanses of vertical and overhead glazing.

A room with a window might be considered a naturally-lit space. However, daylighting experts would argue that for any space to be considered daylit it must use natural light as the principal source of daytime illumination. They also would insist that the external environment and internal space need to be seamlessly connected and that the natural light must create a thermally comfortable place.

The good news is that top-lighting allows up to 30% more natural light to enter a space than vertical glazing of the same size. Top-lighting also connects people with the sky above, literally bringing the sky into the room below.

With many options available in pitched skylights and flat rooflights, it is not difficult to find a top-lighting solution. However, the real challenge that everyone faces is finding a solution that elegantly expands their natural light.

The neo™ skylight features a top hinged opening (as opposed to centre-pivoted) to maximise the space below.

Elegant Simplicity

The neo™ collection from the Rooflight Company comes in expanses up to 2.3m x 1.4m. Architect Jenny Harborne of Imago architects was approached by her client to add elegant skylights to an extension to a minimalist property in Fulham, London. She specified neo™ from the Rooflight Company because, unlike most modern skylights, neo™, when closed, has totally clear views uncluttered by opening mechanisms. Privacy was a key element of the brief as the property is flanked at either side by homes overlooking the extension. With this in mind the glazing was upgraded to Optifloat Opal privacy glass.

Three neo™ S12 skylights were specified, two being motorised and one fixed shut. The motorised skylights were fitted with rain sensors to ensure automatic closure during adverse weather conditions.

‘I like the clean lines and modern design of the neo™ skylight,’ says Harborne. ‘It merges well with the standing seam roof at this project and complements the minimal design perfectly.’

Featuring a sleek, contemporary and elegant design and flush edge-to-edge glazing, the neo™ offers a skylight that combines unique properties with a frameless, minimalist appearance to complement modern architecture and interiors perfectly in a property like the one in Fulham.