Designers’ intentions versus users’ perceptions: a comparison of two refurbished office buildings

Abstract

Following on from his investigation of the performance in practice of over 30 new commercial and institutional buildings worldwide from the point of view of users, the author and his associates conducted a detailed investigation of two major office refurbishments in Wellington, New Zealand. The main aims were to see how the refurbished buildings were perceived by the occupants, how these perceptions compared with the worldwide set of mainly new buildings, and what design processes were employed. The investigation involved interviewing members of the design teams and conducting a questionnaire survey of the users of each building. It was found that both buildings scored very well for their design and overall comfort, but there were significant differences in the users’ perceptions of health and productivity. One building was found to perform considerably better than the worldwide sample average, and the other on a par with or slightly under the average. These case studies give a clear indication that refurbishments and even fit-outs within the constraints of an existing shell are quite capable of equalling and even surpassing the performance of completely new designs from the point of view of building users, and that a design approach more inclusive of the prospective occupants can result in significantly better users’ perceptions of a building.

Keywords:

• intelligent control
• refurbished offices
• sustainable buildings
• user perceptions

Acknowledgements

We should like to thank the following for their generous assistance: Adrian Leaman of Building Use Studies for licensing us to use the BUS questionnaire during this exercise and for undertaking the data analysis with his customary efficiency; the Victoria University of Wellington Human Ethics Committee for approval to administer the questionnaire; the Faculty Strategic Research Grant that has enabled the compilation of this paper; together with Course Co-coordinators Brenda and Robert Vale and Tutor Nick Smith. Our particular thanks go to the following: Dave A. Alcock, manager, Business Services Unit of the Corporate Services Group at the Department of Conservation for his generous and enthusiastic assistance throughout this exercise; architect Stuart Gardyne of Architecture Plus and engineers Steven McGlinchey and Paul James of Sinclair, Knight Merz for describing the design concept and its implementation at Conservation House; Michael Osborne, Senior Adviser, Sustainable Business Group of the Ministry for the Environment for his generous and enthusiastic assistance throughout this exercise, together with Chris Wood of the Govt3 programme; and architect Campbell Pope and engineers Masoud Moinfar and Chris Lawrence of Connell Wagner for describing the design concept and its implementation at Environment House. Last but certainly not least, the students of the Environmental Control Class of 2008 who distributed the questionnaire, and all of the building users who took the time to respond to it – the vast majority did so, thus earning our heartfelt appreciation.