A Table Top Heliodon Developed For Use In An Architect's Design Studio

Abstract

Heliodons have been developed to simulate sunlight direction in relation to a building model. For placing the building model, heliodons can be divided into two categories. In one category, the model is to be tilted, and normally also rotated [1-3]. In the other category, the model is to be placed horizontally, and normally also stationary [4-6].

The later category of heliodons, with a horizontally placed building model, and with the simulated sunlight moving around it, will certainly help architectural professionals, students and laymen visualise the change of sunlight direction around a building and the related effect on insolation and shading.

In the pursuit of a heliodon capable of simulating quasi-parallel light impinging on physical building models for simulating sunlight impingement for various hours of the days and various days of the year, and for varying latitudes, yet occupying a space generally affordable in an architect’s design studio, a new table top heliodon has been developed.

This paper reports on this heliodon which simulates the directional and parallelity aspects of sunlight. It employs a movable artificial directional light source assembly giving light onto a building model which is placed on a flat table, with the flat table acts as the horizontal plane for the building model. The light source assembly is adjustable for giving simulated sunlight (only simulating for the directional and parallelity aspects of sunlight) onto the flat table, which is the simulated horizontal plane, for the desirable day, time, and latitude of the location of the modelled building. In order to receive the simulated sunlight which comes out in a limited face area of the lens, the building model has to be moved about the flat table which is the simulated horizontal plane. This model movement is a simple movement just for keeping the north-south orientation of the building model in line with that of the table, and for catching the simulated sunlight, without tilting the building model.