10-82 I E S LIGHTING HANDBOOK

FIG. 10-57. A dormitory room lighted for study hour.

Dormitory Rooms
Except in special schools (as in military schools, perhaps) there should be
few differences between the lighting goals for dormitories and those for
similar rooms in the home (bedrooms and living rooms). (See pages 10-36
and 10-42.) Most of the differences are associated with lack of decoration,
uniformity, ease of cleaning, and similar factorsfew of which deal directly
with the quantity and finality of illumination. (See Fig. 10-57.) Military
dormitories may tend more toward general illumination from ceiling
fixtures rather than localized illumination from portable lamps. Under
such conditions, general-office lighting standards should be followed. (See
page 10-52.)
The lighting of dormitory rooms should satisfy two dissimilar require-
ments :
1. Contribute to a comfortable and attractive relaxation atmosphere.
2. Provide the 30-footcandle classroom illumination level recommended
for study purposes.
Portable lamps at each desk and lounge chair maj^ be adequate if they
distribute enough light throughout a room to bring brightness ratios within
the classroom limits.
COMMERCIAL AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS
Almost any structure except a residence might fall into the category,
"commercial and public buildings," but the term usually is construed by
illuminating engineers to mean theaters, banks, libraries, and museums,
and the public portions of office buildings, hotels, churches, concert halls,
hospitals, and similar large areas of high turnover and intermittent oc-
cupancy. Modern lighting design is co-ordinated with the architectural
theme in public buildings more often than in other structures. The char-
acteristic public-occupancy areas of such buildings include lobbies, audi-
toriums, w
r
ork and service areas, corridors, stairways, and so forth.