Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Enhances School Interior

  • 08/01/14
Daylighting

Solatube helped bring daylight to the Newington High School library during a major renovation.

Until recently, Newington High School in Newington, CT, hadn’t been updated for 40 years. Its media center, centrally located within the building and surrounded by corridors and classrooms, had no openings facing the exterior and, thus, no daylight.

Enter Solatube International, Inc. and the company’s “Operation Textbook” program, which provides tubular daylighting devices (TDDs) to Pre K-12 school districts and higher education institutions interested in adding daylight to their facilities.

Architect Kevin Lipe, AIA, LEED-AP, with Jacunski Humes Architects, knew that Newington High School was a perfect fit for the program. Working closely with Willco Sales& Service, the Solatube commercial distributor for New England, they installed a number of Solatube SolaMaster 750 DS-C units to bring daylight into the school’s darkest spaces.

“Since the media center was one story, penetrations from the roof yielded immediate openings into the space below and made the decision to use Solatube Daylighting Systems quite simple,” Lipe says.

Once ceiling grids and electrical lighting (for night hours) were worked out, the units were positioned for the greatest dispersion of natural light throughout the room. Diffusers laid into the grid gave units the same appearance as recessed fluorescents. Units were also clustered in gathering areas, such as the circulation department and quiet reading areas.

“I was impressed with the difference natural daylight brought to the room. Before the project, turning off the room lights left most of the space in darkness and brought to a stop whatever activities were underway. Now, turning off the lights causes an almost imperceptible change to light levels and activities continue on uninterrupted,” Lipe says. “Solatube Daylighting Systems greatly enhance the quality of ambient light throughout the space without shadows, glare or direct sun.”

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Northeastern University Breaks Ground on New Housing Community

    Northeastern University recently announced the groundbreaking of a new student housing community on its campus in Boston, Mass., according to a news release. The university is partnering with American Campus Communities (ACC) for development of the project, which will have the capacity for 1,200 students and has a scheduled completion date of fall 2028.

  • Surging Demand for Student Housing Fuels Major Campus Investment Opportunities

    University leaders throughout the U.S. are accelerating plans to modernize and expand student housing as enrollment stabilizes and demand for on-campus living rebounds. Recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics indicates that total postsecondary enrollment is projected to grow through the end of the decade, with undergraduate enrollment alone expected to increase by more than 8 percent by 2030.

  • South Carolina District Starts Construction on $50M Middle School Renovation

    The Aiken County Public School District in North Augusta, S.C., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the $50-million renovation and expansion of North Augusta Middle School, according to a news release. The project’s funding comes from the 2024 renewal of a one-cent sales tax approved by local voters.

  • Spaces4Learning Launches 2026 Education Design Showcase Awards

    Spaces4Learning has opened submissions for the 2026 Education Design Showcase! The awards program launched in 1999 with the goal of celebrating innovative, practical solutions in the planning, design, and construction of K–12 and higher-education facilities. EDS recognizes new developments that help achieve optimal learning environments, as well as the architecture firms that brought the ideas to life.