Evaluation of design studios in terms of environmental comfort conditions

Abstract

Buildings create environments for people to live and work in, and they aim at providing occupant satisfaction. In order to create interior environments which are completely suitable for the activities they involve, some requirements have to be met. These requirements relate to the environmental comfort conditions, the components of which are thermal, visual and acoustical comfort. The important point is that the effects of heat, light and sound are not isolated elements of building design; they are interrelated. In this study, which is a field study, environmental comfort conditions in the design studio are analyzed. Design studios are chosen since there is a living process in these environments where many different functions take place simultaneously. For this purpose, the design studios of the Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design, Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey are analyzed. The analysis consists of the physical measurements of the environmental comfort parameters, and the subjective responses of the occupants which are evaluated with questionnaires. In order to make an evaluation, the obtained values for physical measurements are compared with the ones compiled from the relevant standards, and the questionnaire responses are analyzed. At the end of the study, recommendations for the amelioration of the measured studios are made.