Daylight in historic house museums. Reconciling visitor visual needs with management practices
Name
Luz_Frias_Hernandez_-_Daylight_in_historic_house_museums.pdf
Description
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Size
74.84 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (CRC64NVME)
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Resource type
Doctoral thesis
Creator (person)
Hernandez, Luz Maria Frias
Date published
January 2026
Abstract
Daylit historic house museums face the dual challenge of conserving light-sensitive interiors while enabling visitors to visually engage with collections and architectural spaces. As many such buildings predate electric lighting, daylight plays a central role in sustaining historic atmosphere and authenticity. Across the museum sector, lighting guidelines have been developed to limit light-induced damage to collections while supporting visual access. However, much of the research that informed these guidelines was conducted in electrically lit office environments, resulting in limited empirical evidence on how daylight is perceived in heritage interiors. This thesis addresses this gap by investigating the extent to which historic house museum interiors are adequately viewed under conservation-led lighting conditions. An innovative mixed-method approach was applied in historic interiors in the UK and Mexico, two countries with contrasting daylight conditions. Visitor surveys were conducted alongside simultaneous vertical illuminance measurements. The resulting dataset was analysed using descriptive statistical techniques, including boxplot visualisation and correlation testing. This allowed to examine the relationships between measured daylight conditions against visitors’ visual performance and lighting perceptions across the two different latitudes. The findings demonstrate that visual adequacy and perceptions do not correspond linearly with illuminance levels. Visitor responses were shaped both by the sufficiency of light for viewing and by awareness of conservation values and institutional aims. Seniors and visually impaired visitors more frequently regarded low illuminance as inadequate for detailed viewing, whereas similar conditions were often considered acceptable by other visitors when associated with historic ambience and authenticity. Interior surface reflectance emerged as an important factor, with higher reflectance reducing the illuminance required to achieve satisfactory visibility. External sky condition also played a significant role: clear and partly cloudy conditions were associated with more favourable visitor responses, while overcast skies presented recurring challenges for museums reliant on daylight as a primary light source.
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