Daylight from Above Awards commended: Trewarveneth Studios, Cornwall

VELUX Heritage conservation roof windows played a key role in the conversion of a derelict granite outbuilding into three affordable artists’ studios for the Borlase Smart John Wells Trust in the Cornish town of Newlyn. 

The site, which has been commended in the Heritage Conservation category of the 2025 Daylight from Above Awards, organised by RIBAJ in partnership with VELUX, is within the historic Newlyn Conservation Area. It is renowned for the artists’ colony that has been there since the mid-19th century.

The outbuildings were previously the latrine, coal store and playground shed of an infant school. This was converted into artists’ studios following its closure in 1961.

The conservation area location required the sensitive use of rooflights and the reuse of as much of the existing building fabric as possible. Ten VELUX Heritage conservation roof windows with single glazing bars were used to bring evenly distributed, diffuse light into the new studios. These were set flush in reclaimed Cornish slate roofing, which was wet laid in lime mortar, in diminishing courses as has been traditionally done in West Penwith for centuries. The windows were fitted in combination with a standard VELUX flashing kit.

The three rooflights per studio were placed at the top of the pitched roof to provide excellent ‘sky factor’ daylight from above for artists working at easels, on the walls, and on tables. Daylight naturally varies during the day, and blinds can be manually positioned to diffuse the light or cut out direct sun. The rooflights can also be manually opened using a winder pole to provide cross and trickle ventilation. 

Interior linings were kept simple with white-painted fire-resistant plywood following the profile of the insulated timber roof structure, and tucking into the lining grooves in the white-painted frames of the rooflights.

See all winners and commended entries in the 2025 Daylight from Above Awards