ig6 SCHOOL BLILDIXC.S AND SITHS. 



Xow the necessary area of glass in a sunny climate such as 

 'Ours is a difficult problem to solve, and in solving' jt the aspect 

 of the windows naturally has to be considered. I propose to 

 assume that the longitudinal axis of a class room should be south- 

 west to north-cast, with windows facing- south and east, and it 

 seems reasonable to assume that as one-fifth of the floor area is 

 ■considered rig-ht as the proportional area of glass to floor in 

 Europe, that one-sixth on the shady and one-eighth to one-tenth 

 on the sunny side should be ample here, presuming; that no 

 natural light is reduced by the use of shutters or blinds. 



It must, however, be borne in mind that when a hot wind is 

 blowing or the normal temperature is high, the larger the win- 

 dows are the higher the temperature will be inside the building. 



Anything more than the amount of glass required to provide 

 effective light to a room in the winter season is objectionable, as 

 the excess can only make the room unnecessarily hot in summer 

 and cold in winter. The bottom of the glass in a class room 

 window should not be more than 4ft. 6in. above the floor level, and 

 the head of window should ))e, say, i ft. oin. below the ceiling. 

 These two factors will decide the width of window openings and 

 of the piers between them ; the relative width of the latter should 

 not exceed one-half that of the former, due regard being given to 

 the presence of air inlet flues in the piers, should they be neces- 

 sary. Care must be taken to ensure the thorough lighting of the 

 ^master's dais, and it is well to keep the sills of the windows that 

 flank his seat i2in. lower than the others, so that he can see what 

 is going on outside. On no account should any window face the 

 scholars when seated, but small clerestory windows with th'.^r 

 sills high up above the heads of scholars are useful as ventilating 

 agents in the w^all opposite to that in which the windows are. 

 The light from these can be reduced b}' glazing- them with green 

 cathedral glass or by having green glazed hoppers at their sills to 

 mtercept the rays of light. A white ceiling best diffuses light, 

 and light grey or green colour to the walls is most comfortable. 



Glare or glitter or reflected light from the walls or openings in 

 a class room is most objectionable, and therefore highly glazed 

 tile or brick dados are not to be recommended. 



Artificial lighting needs no consideration here. No trees or 

 adjoining buildings should be allowed to oBstruct the light of class 

 room windows. Small panes of glass in windows are objection- 

 able as rendering the cleaning of the glass difficult, especially when 

 the astragals are of wood. The practical requirement is that every 

 scholar in a room when fully seated should be able to read the 

 smallest standard regulation type of printing at a distance of say 

 14 inches from his eye. 



VENTILATION. 



In this country I am convinced that natural cross-currenT: ven- 

 tilation by means of scientifically disposed windows is the most 

 reliable, but exhaust tubes of a sectional area of at least 30 super- 

 ficial inches per scholar should be provided in proper positions at 



