Atrium

The word atrium comes from the Roman house. In the ancient domus it was the central hall open to the sky, taking in light and rainwater through an opening in its roof. In contemporary architecture it usually means an internal void several storeys high, most often covered by a glazed roof.

What an atrium does

An atrium brings daylight deep into a building with a large floor plate and helps people understand where they are. Hotels, shopping centres, offices and public buildings use it as a place to arrive and meet. Galleries looking down into the void give the floors a shared, connected feeling. Designed well, it can also support natural ventilation, with warm air rising and leaving at the top.

Design considerations

• Because one void links several floors, smoke control and fire safety are dealt with from day one.
• A glass roof can overheat in summer, so shading and ventilation are planned together.
• Tall volumes lined with hard surfaces echo, so acoustic treatment is usually needed.

Atria are striking but demanding subjects, especially in hotel architectural visualization. Daylight filtering down through the floors, shadows across the galleries and a strong sense of depth only come through with careful lighting and a confident vertical composition.