An investigation on the daylight availability in Turkish historical dwellings; Kemaliye, Birgi and Safranbolu houses

The geographic, social, and cultural properties of the region influence the architectural form of the buildings and historical buildings are symbols of a country. During the re-function process of the historical buildings, it is essential to conserve the original forms and specifications of the buildings. The physical environmental conditions, heat, acoustics and especially natural light required for the new function of the buildings is an extremely important issue. The aim of the study is, to investigate the natural lighting properties of the refunctioned historical dwellings in the two cities located in different climatic zones of Turkey. In the study, three cities (Erzincan, İzmir and Karabük) located in different climatic zone of Turkey have been chosen. Erzincan has cold climate, İzmir has hot climate, Karabük has temperate-humid climate. Three re-functioned historical dwellings have been selected for each city. This work is made of six parts. İn the first part, the purpose and method of the work had been specified. In the second part architectural data and lighting system of turkish historical dwellings had been analyzed. In the third part, under the Kemaliye Houses headline, there had been given information about architectural data of the re-functioned historical Kemaliye dwelllings and the details of natural lighting system. In the fourth part, under the Birgi Houses headline, there had been given information about architectural data of the re-functioned historical Birgi dwelllings and the details of natural lighting system. In the fifth part, under the Safranbolu Houses headline there had been given information about architectural data of the re-functioned historical Safranbolu dwelllings and the details of natural lighting system. In the sixth part you can find the general assessment and result. The efficiency of natural lighting systems of buildings in terms of the original and new functions has been investigated and the data beneficial for the designer have been presented. In the seventh and last part the data compared according to suitability of original and new functions.