Daylight in a Cistercian Heritage Church in Lisbon, From Rural to Urban Context

Light levels in the churches of the Cistercian Order are mostly related to the fulfilment of liturgical needs. The compound building of Bernardas’ Convent includes a church at the utmost southern corner that dates back to the 17th century. It only has one façade facing due southeast. This paper analyses the relationship between daylight conditions within the building before and after the urbanisation of the surrounding area; taking into account the relationship between the church, its main activities, and solar trajectory. A comparative analysis of the relationship between the actual surrounding context and the initial period after it was built (open field) is given. The highest reflectance of the street canyon has augmented the levels of available daylight.