Natural light is an essential consideration in modern architecture, particularly for offices, retail buildings and other workspaces, and structural glass systems such as partitions are a critical aspect of this.

Alongside their many other benefits for encouraging social connections, collaboration, adding a sophisticated modern look to a building and their durability, possibly their biggest benefit is how much they contribute to daylighting design initiatives.

Daylighting is an architectural concept where buildings are designed to maximise the amount of natural light that enters them, which brings with it a huge range of benefits to health, mental wellbeing, finances, productivity and employee relations.

All of these benefits are somewhat interconnected and relate to how the human body and mind benefit from natural light.

Part of this relates to the intake of vitamin D, which the body creates through direct sunlight on the skin, whether you are outside or indoors.

As well as this, natural light is linked to the body’s circadian rhythm (body clock), which affects sleep patterns and by extension fatigue and mental health. Daylighting can specifically reduce the risk of seasonal affective disorder, a mental health concern typically associated with winter.

It can also reduce a building’s reliance on fluorescent light, which not only reduces eye strain but also lowers energy use and energy bills as an additional benefit, making a building more energy efficient.

Artificial lighting has also been linked to migraines and elevated stress responses, which compounds the benefits of natural light.

All of these mental and physical health benefits have an effect on productivity, which can often be significantly affected by environmental factors to the point of causing sick building syndrome.

Some workplaces benefit from the openness that comes from glass partitions, but if a degree of privacy is required, frosting stripes or processes can be used to make the glass more opaque and create insulated meeting spaces.