How to Design a Multi-Functional Kitchen Space That Stays Bright All Day

The kitchen is perhaps the most multi-functional room in our homes. From cooking and dining to working, reading, and homework, it needs to accommodate a variety of activities and adapt to different times of the day. This multitasking demands careful lighting decisions.

Start with zones, not fixtures

Before considering a single light fitting or rooflight position, get your head around the space. A multi-functional kitchen operates because different activities take place in different areas, even if those areas meld into each other. The kitchen work triangle – sink, stove, refrigerator – is still a good basic planning tool, but in an open-plan layout, you have to apply that idea to a dining zone, a workspace or homework corner, and a social area too.

Prep zone, dining zone, work/homework zone, and social zone. Four zones, four different lighting needs. The prep area wants sharp, shadow-free work light. The dining zone wants something warmer, more ambient and diffused. Roughly 50 lux, according to the lighting geeks. A desk or work corner needs similarly shadow-free and brightly focused area light, without the added horror of computer-screen glare thrown in.

Paper and pencil planning and the question: where will the arrival of natural light be coming from, at what angle, and at what time of day – and spanning panes become a logical decision rather than a stab in the dark. A good grid plan will curtail all unhelpful architect’s solutions to "Here? Six feet up in the middle?" Or "How about a fun stripe across here?" It will also curb the later intervention of the Electrician’s Clever Sconce in the exact center of the useful shelf.

Why vertical windows aren’t enough for deep extensions

Many kitchen extensions are built without considering daylight. Instead, it’s a decision made after – it felt like a bright space so let’s not worry too much about it, then curtains or blinds are installed because, in fact, it isn’t that light at all. Or the decision is made based on the suggested configuration instead of the options available to you – you could have a pitched roof or a flat one, you assume a flat roof would be cheaper. Or the sales pitch is about getting as much glass up as possible.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the glass is not the thing. The daylight is the thing. Let that be your guiding principle and you’ll cope with much less than you assume. Really. Skimp on the daylight and it’ll impact on your long-term well-being in a way that a less generous surface material or awkwardly positioned pendant never will. If you can’t keep the kitchen clean and carefully organized because you can’t see what you’re doing, it’s life-changing. If you have to put the lights on in the middle of the day, it’s life-changing.

Choosing the right glazing – thermal performance and light quality

Skylights are not all the same. How the glass is made can mean the difference between a kitchen that’s comfortable to stand in come July, and one that’s positively unbearable. The same unit that lets in welcome winter sunlight can also be a heat sink when the rain stops and the mercury rises. Two numbers – the U-value and the Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) – determine how well a kitchen skylight copes with heat transfer in and out, and how much solar heat pours through the glass. Further, the frame can be thermally ‘broken’ or unbroken, meaning that it forms a continuous sequence of conductive material right around the edge – the weak point in any window in terms of energy performance.

Trying to make it as simple as possible to match what’s available with what you need; 1.2 W/m²K is around the sort of maximum you want for a U-value. Below 1.0 is good; below 0.8 is high performance. Fabulous SHGC performance is around 0.25. Put simply, the right skylight specialist – like Addlite – can offer the latest generation of thermally broken frames in options like fully bespoke made-to-measure flat rooflights. If you take the care and don’t scrimp on the more expensive but demonstrably better quality option, your skylights will read their environmental surroundings like the most responsive vent in an HVAC system. All of which will make them extraordinarily cheap to run in terms of energy and virtually maintenance free.

Roof lanterns vs. flat rooflights – picking the right profile

The shape of the rooflight actually affects the light, as flat rooflights deliver light downwards in a direct column, while roof lanterns capture light from multiple sides. Roof lanterns work incredibly well above a central kitchen island or dining table as the light is taken from all sides, meaning it is spread out throughout the day rather than just concentrated at one point. The glass sides also create quite a stunning focal point in a room.

Flat rooflights probably work best in contemporary, minimal projects where the roof plane is deliberately on show. They are also the right choice if you are restricted – be it by budget, planning rules, or aesthetics – on how far the rooflight can project above the roofline.

The pitch of the roof is a practical consideration too. Flat rooflights need a minimum fall for drainage – usually between 2 and 15 degrees depending on the manufacturer. If you are working with a pitched roof section, then a pitched skylight that matches the roof angle is the best solution. Try to fit a flat skylight onto a very steeply pitched roof and the stresses on the frame (not to mention the poor drainage) will cause problems.

Reflective surfaces – making the most of what you let in

It is only half the battle to get daylight into the space. The kitchen’s internal surfaces determine how much of that light is absorbed. A dark kitchen with matt-finish units and black worktops will take in most of the light entering from above, creating a few bright spots directly under the glazing and general gloominess everywhere else.

Light-reflecting choices will bounce light further into the room. Gloss or semi-gloss cabinet fronts spread the light over horizontal surfaces. Similarly, pale or warm-neutral countertops – especially polished stone or solid surface materials – behave like a mini light source, reflecting daylight back up and into the room. A mirror or high-gloss tile backsplash behind the cooking zone functions in the same way: it multiplies instead of swallows.

This does not mean every kitchen must be white. A dark island base combined with light-coloured upper cabinets and a pale worktop satisfies the eye’s need for contrast while reflecting enough light to keep the space from feeling oppressive. The guiding principle is light-redirecting rather than just ‘choose light colors’.

Ceiling color has more of an impact than most people think. A white or near-white ceiling over a skylight bounces the incoming light downwards and sideways, washing out the contrast between the lit column under the glass and the surrounding room. A dark ceiling will absorb that light.

Ventilation through the roof

A kitchen that serves as a multi-functional space will undoubtedly produce heat, steam, and smells associated with cooking multiple times over the course of a day. Mechanical extraction can deal with the immediate cooking fumes, but it cannot offer a solution to the wider thermal comfort of a room that someone may be using to work or eat in.

Opening rooflights – whether manually operated or motor-driven with a rain sensor – can take advantage of the stack effect. Opening at the ceiling, warm air is able to escape through roof level glazing, such as a rooflight, drawing cooler air in through lower level windows or doors, cooling the room down. A kitchen that is expected to run warm throughout the morning’s cooking activity and into a working afternoon would suggest that passive ventilation of this kind can make a very real and practical difference elsewhere in the space.

Electric opening rooflights with rain sensors are the only real option for roof level glazing. Nobody wants to clamber up onto a table to close a rooflight because the weather has changed, but most are now integrated with a remote or wall switch and some can connect to the smart home.

Layering artificial light to extend the day

The kitchen receives natural daylight until late afternoon. A good design should consider how this room will be used in the evening. Light isn’t always about choices at the design stage; sometimes it’s just physics.

Natural daylight will always give you the best light for most kitchen tasks, but expecting a room that you need bright from 7 am to 2 pm to still be working for you at 7 pm takes more than a couple of nice pendant lights. You can divide the approaches to this into three overlapping categories. Original lighting design is a bit of a dark art but what follows is a solid introduction.

The physics part is that no matter how architecturally ‘sunny’ a room is, daylight will never shine into boxes (base units, wall units), and in the very nature of an extension, half the periphery will not get enough light most of the time. That’s why you still find lighting designers on even the most glassy modern projects. And it’s not just the light levels; color temperature and the movement of light (shadows) are equally important.

A good rule of thumb is that any point in the kitchen that you will look at in horror if you spill something on it at 11 am needs a specific light source. So that’s your worktop and your hob. The sink might just squeak by as having enough light from the daylight but many kitchen designers will recommend a dedicated light over the sink as well. A bit more arguable is the concept that anything you see through glass needs to be seen in the same light. This makes lighting inside glazed doors a good idea.