In a Danish context, the Building Regulation is the legislation for our built environment. Therefore, the focus of this survey is to investigate how Danish legislation treats questions on daylight in relation to the build environment. Furthermore, it looks at whether the specific ways of looking at daylight influence the general understanding of light and the processing of daylight design in the built environment. When acknowledging both its multifaceted character and the impact daylight has, as well as the inherent implications regulation can have on the practices that apply to them, the question remains as to how Danish building regulations treat questions of daylight in relation to the built environment. Furthermore, what is the implication of understanding these ways of looking at daylight? This survey is a profound study of 14 Danish building regulations, from the first historical regulations in 1856 up to the latest regulation of 2018. To investigate the role of daylight and its priority in Danish building regulations, daylight is defined through three theoretical topics: vision, energy, and health. This survey focuses on daylight in relation to private housing. Reviewing the 14 Danish Building Regulations illustrates how the understanding of daylight in relation to the built environment has changed. The different requirements on daylight design varies through time and reflects the political agenda of each specific historical period. This underlines how daylight is subject to changing agendas; however, it is rarely an agenda on its own.

Scientific research has shown how exposure to daylight and continual contact with greenery, natural elements and habitats are crucial factors for human well-being. In the wake of these findings, it is highly important to improve access to facilities that enable and promote these effects of increased life quality and well-being among all groups of people in our societies. The paper describes an in-progress project focusing on how to enhance the everyday conditions of elderly people in a care home setting in Denmark, all of which are living with Dementia. The paper presents a vision for a new physical extension to the existing building structure on the care home location that supports everyday life, activities and the overall wellbeing among the residents. The vision can be seen as the first step in the development of a set of generic guidelines for the design and use made to be transferred and tested in other settings in Denmark and internationally. In drafting and designing the conservatory the project group employs principles of Universal Design in combination with newer research findings on the health-promoting potentials of spaces characterized by access to natural light, plant growth and living environments. Furthermore, the work rests on a holistic ambition to create brighter, greener, naturally aligned and healthier conditions for residents, care home workers and visiting relatives alike.