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Definitely had a glass shade. What your looking for is a replacement with a neck so the lip sits on top of the screws. This site has a good selection but double check the diameter of the fitting: https://jmoncrieff.co.uk/John-Moncrieff-replacement-glass-light-shades/John-Moncrieff-clear-globe--with-neck-in-various--sizes- Ebay is a good source for replacement shades as well.

Go with the rooflights if you want a nice bright space. Builders don't have much vision in my experience, and prefer to do what they've always done.

A smart home system can either be hardwired (so basically the lightswitches and sockets themselves are smart. Lightwaverf is an example), or the individual bulbs and plugs themselves are smart (like Philips Hue, TP-link Tapo and so on). I have a mixture of both, and there are pros and cons to each. It is worth bearing in mind that the protocols for controlling smart devices are evolving, and the new ‘Matter’ protocol is intended to allow different smart devices from different manufacturers to be compatible with each other and better integrated with the various controlling apps. So if I were starting from scratch I’d be looking at individual smart devices (which can be added to in an adhoc fashion and more easily updated than hardwired systems) which are Matter capable.