Kitchen week is one of the biggest weeks on The Block, and this year VELUX has something new to reveal.
For the first time in Australia, VELUX is showcasing its new Walk-On Skylight. A new product innovation designed to change the way we think about bringing natural light into the home.
Specified across all five homes on The Block this year, the Walk-On Skylight is helping demonstrate how daylight can move beyond a single room and travel through different levels of a home.
We asked Steph Ottavio, architect and winner of The Block 2023, and Carl, our Skylight Expert, to take a closer look at how the Walk-on Skylights have been used across this year’s homes.
As homes change, so does the way we use daylight.
The way we design our homes is changing.
Homes are becoming more complex, with more levels, more considered layouts and higher expectations around how spaces look and feel. At the same time, access to external walls can be limited by privacy, planning, site constraints and the way a home is positioned.
That can make bringing natural light into certain parts of the home more challenging.
For more than 80 years, VELUX has focused on bringing daylight and fresh air into homes through the roof. But as the way we live and build evolves, there is an opportunity to think beyond traditional skylights.
House 3: Lisa & Rosco
House 3: Lisa & Rosco
Seeing the Walk-On Skylight in action on The Block
The VELUX Walk-On Skylight is a purpose-designed trafficable glass floor that allows natural light entering through a roof skylight to continue beyond the upper level and into the ground floor space below.
The Block provides the perfect setting to bring this new idea to life.
Across all five homes, The Block’s resident architect Julian Brenchley specified Walk-On Skylights as an opportunity to explore how daylight could move between levels and become part of the architectural experience of each home.
“The Walk-On Skylight allowed us to think differently about the direction that daylight could travel between levels and become part of the architectural experience of the home.”
House 2: Chantel & Wyatt
House 4: Courtney & Sev
For Steph, one of the standout benefits is the opportunity to introduce more natural light without sacrificing valuable floor space. “The best part of the Walk-On Skylight is you’re not having to compromise on your floor space.” Rather than daylight stopping at the upper floor, the Walk-On can help extend its impact into the level below, opening up new possibilities for darker or more internal spaces.
House 4: Courtney & Sev
House 5: Rick & Tayla
Where could a Walk-On Skylight work in your home?
A Walk-On Skylight could be considered for:
Multi-level homes
Extend natural daylight from the roof into lower levels of the home.
Darker internal spaces
Bring daylight into areas where traditional windows may not be practical.
Homes where privacy matters
Introduce natural daylight without necessarily relying on additional vertical windows.
Spaces where you want to preserve wall space
Bring daylight into a room while keeping walls available for furniture, storage and other design elements.
Creating a connection between levels
Use glass and natural daylight to create a visual connection between floors and make daylight part of the architectural experience.
Whether it is used to brighten a darker space, connect two levels or simply create something unexpected, the Walk-On Skylight gives homeowners and designers another way to make natural light part of the way a home is designed.
House 1: Adam & Jolene
House 5: Rick & Tayla
Discover the VELUX Walk-On Skylight
The five Block homes are the first opportunity to see the VELUX Walk-On Skylight in a residential setting in Australia.
The Block demonstrates the potential of rethinking about daylight beyond a single room, and considering how natural light can move through the home.
Available now across Australia, find out more about the VELUX Walk-On Skylight and explore how it could work in your next project.
Read more and express your interest in specifying a Walk-On Skylight in your next project.