Towards User-Centered Architecture

Abstract

In architectural education and practice, the evaluation of a building’s functional, psychosocial and social performance – its ability to meet user needs – is often neglected (Brown, 2018). Post-occupancy evaluation (POE), a systematic approach to assessing whether buildings fulfill their design intentions and respond to both explicit and implicit user needs, offers a promising solution to this oversight (Lehane, 2022). Despite its potential, architectural education often prioritises conceptual design, with project evaluations heavily influenced by subjective opinions of professors, visiting critics and peers. This approach leaves students with limited insight into how their designs perform in real-world contexts (Duffy, 2008). Research indicates that integrating POE into architectural training can help students better understand design effectiveness and prevent recurring design flaws (Hay et al., 2017; Brown, 2019). Furthermore, architects trained to apply POE methods are better equipped to create spaces that meet user expectations over time, thereby reducing the likelihood of premature building modifications (RIBA, 2017).

This paper presents how two courses teach POE to their students, one at the faculty of architecture at Delft University of Technology and the other at the faculty of architecture at Technische Universität Wien. We illustrate how students in these courses are taught to apply POE, focusing on healthcare environments through a structured research process. The courses at both universities teach students to conduct POE in real-life healthcare settings, such as Klinik Floridsdorf and Erasmus MC. Students are introduced to a research question and trained to develop appropriate data collection techniques, including observations and interviews. They gather both quantitative and qualitative data, which they then analyse by integrating findings from multiple methods. The process emphasises linking user feedback with observations of building performance to foster a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between physical design and user experience.

The structured POE training process enabled students to develop a deeper understanding of how design impacts users over time. By applying POE methods, students gained insights into the practical implications of designs and learned about user needs in healthcare environments. We will discuss the potential benefits of integrating POE in architectural training for students, faculty and the architectural profession as a whole.