HOSPITAL LIGHTING
materials unusual in civil construction and innovative kinematic mechanisms, enabling them to respond to transient loading and boundary conditions, improving the building’s overall performance.12 Inpatient rooms require direct natural light as a source of healing. However, the environment must have control systems, as these areas require special lighting conditions. In contrast, kinetic façades with responsive technology allow for the control of natural light inside a building. However, no hospital buildings have been identified that incorporate them. Therefore, a relevant question arises: can kinetic façades with responsive
Table 1. Existing building information. Year and project name
1 1986
Arab World Institute Jean Nouvel Paris France
2 1999
Embassy of the Nordic Countries Berger+Parkkinen Architects Berlin Germany
3 2007
Kiefer Technic Showroom Ernst Giselbrecht and Partner ZT GmbH Estria Austria
4 2012
Al Bahar Towers Aedas Architects Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates
5 2014
SDU Kolding Campus Henning Larsen Architects Kolding Denmark
6 2017
Fosun Foundation Foster+Partners and Heatherwick Studio Shanghai China
76 l Greenish copper metal panels
l Open and close like horizontal louvres
l Control natural lighting through a pre-established schedule
l Horizontal perforated aluminum panels
l Sliding and folding;Interacting with natural light through photosensitive sensors or pre-set programming
l PTFE membrane – Polytetrafluoroethylene, semi- opaque
l Expands and contracts like origami
l Interacts with natural light and wind through sensors
l Perforated metal panels
l Open and close like wings on an axis (flapping)
l Interact with natural light
l Bronze tubes hung in three layers l Sliding in opposite directions l Allowing natural light to enter
technology provide satisfactory natural light and visibility to the outside of an inpatient room?
Objective This study aims to understand whether examples of kinetic façades constructed with responsive technology can contribute to the provision and control of natural light and exterior visibility of an inpatient room in a tropical climate such as the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro.
Method The methodological strategy applied to this work is divided into three main stages: l Survey of buildings that have kinetic
Detail of the kinetic façade
façades with responsive technology.
l Characterisation of a computational model.
l Computer simulation of a representative model of an inpatient room, using kinetic façades, using SketchUp.
Building information In an attempt to understand how kinetic façades with responsive technology can contribute to the provision of natural light, images of some existing buildings were researched and selected. Table 1 summarises the bibliographic survey and classifies it by year, shading device, as well as materials, façade kinematics, and
Materials, kinematics, and responsive function l Lattice metal panels
l Rotate to open and close like a shutter
l Interact with natural light through photosensitive sensors
IFHE DIGEST 2026
Source: Authors, 2025
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