Do architects’ and users’ reality coincide? A post occupancy evaluation in a university lecture hall

Post Occupancy Evaluation provides a good opportunity to make the built environment much more sustainable by correlating building performance to the occupant’s needs. The need for socialisation for youth on a university campus is particularly important. This paper argues that in viewing educational spaces from another perspective, and in particular shared social-academic spaces, POE can be a valuable instrument of reflection. This case provides new insights into the university’s educational building design considerations and into engaging users, designers, university coordinators and researchers in a variety of issues of POE to provide a more holistic understanding. The purpose of this study is to find out whether spatial characteristics and overall aesthetic affects students’/occupants’ work performance and satisfaction. It aims to identify the environmental quality design criteria and whether criteria such as building layout, thermal, lighting and sound comfort, and maintenance are among the designer’s expectations. User’s ideas were elicited and from them suggestions for space enhancement were taken in consideration. The study also aims to find out how the building affected the students and their behaviours with its construction in the Istanbul Technical University campus, and on the other side, how satisfied students are with this new building. A multi-way analysis based on questionnaires, interviews, observations, photographs and behavioural maps is used to achieve the set goals. In this way, a detailed study of the Lecture Hall could contribute to setting the basis for future possible constructions of educational buildings.

[1]  Jeffery A. Lackney.  The State of Post-Occupancy Evaluation in the Practice of Educational Design. , 2001 .

[2]  C. Zimring,et al.  Post-Occupancy Evaluation , 1980 .

[3]  OECD/PEB Evaluating Quality in Educational Facilities 2005 , 2022 .

[4]  Jack L. Nasar,et al.  ASSESSING BUILDING PERFORMANCE: ITS EVOLUTION FROM POST-OCCUPANCY EVALUATION , 2008 .

[5]  Edward T. White,et al.  Facility Performance Evaluation , 2018 .

[6]  Mark Martin,et al.  Post-occupancy evaluation: benefits and barriers , 2001 .

[7]  Peter Palm.  Closing the loop : the use of post occupancy evaluations in real estate management , 2008 .

[8]  Husrul Nizam Husin,et al.  Performance Evaluation of Indoor Environment Towards Sustainability for Higher Educational Buildings , 2011 .

[9]  Masoud Malekzadeh,et al.  Exploring the use of new school buildings through post-occupancy evaluation and participatory action research , 2015 .

[10]  Chris Watson,et al.  Review of Building Quality Using Post Occupancy Evaluation , 2003 .

[11]  E. Dassau,et al.  Closing the loop , 2012, International journal of clinical practice. Supplement.

[12]  A. Salama.  MEDIA COVERAGE AND USERS' REACTIONS: AL AZHAR PARK IN THE MIDST OF CRITICISM AND POST OCCUPANCY EVALUATION , 2008 .

[13]  Ebru Cubukcu,et al.  Does Student Behavior Differ In Relation To Perception / Evaluation of Campus Environments? A Post-occupancy Research in Two University Campuses , 2011 .

[14]  Isaac A. Meir,et al.  Post-Occupancy Evaluation: An Inevitable Step Toward Sustainability , 2009 .

[15]  Ian Cooper,et al.  Post-occupancy evaluation - where are you? , 2001 .

[16]  Ali Murat Tanyer,et al.  POST OCCUPANCY EVALUATION IN THE PRACTICE OF ARCHITECTURE: A CASE STUDY OF LÜTFİ KIRDAR CONVENTION AND EXHIBITION CENTRE , 2010 .