A post-occupancy evaluation of the influence of wood on environmental comfort

Abstract

Emerging research on the impact of interior finishes, more specifically wood, is beginning to shed light on informed design opportunities. As a natural building material with unique features, wood creates warm and pleasant atmospheres and has the potential of enhancing the well-being of occupants. This research attempted to better understand how occupants perceive wood in built environments and whether its indoor use influenced the satisfaction of occupants. The comfort of occupants may have been influenced by factors that were unrelated to the indoor environmental quality, which caused difficulties in comparing interior finishes in existing environments and limited research in this field. An exploratory comparative study, within a post-occupancy evaluation framework, investigated the subjective perception of occupants in relation to physical comfort factors. Thirty-six occupants completed a questionnaire to examine comfort satisfaction in a multifunctional room with extensive wooden interior finishes in comparison with a similar space without wood surfaces. The results indicated that occupants were more satisfied in the extensive wood surfaced room in terms of lighting, noise, and temperature, despite the similar environmental conditions in both spaces. Adjectives often used to describe the wood room included bright, pleasant, modern, and warm. Architects should consider the subjective qualities of wood when designing comfortable buildings.

The effect of carrier system materials used in an Olympic swimming pool on the perceptual evaluations of respondents

“…This result supported the hypothesis set forth in H1 : “Respondents will perceive, and evaluate the environmental factors of a space using laminated wood beams more positively compared to spaces using post-tensioned concrete beams, and steel beams”. These results support the results obtained previously from the studies – Aydıntan (2001), Burnard and Kutnar (2015), Fujisaki et al (2015), Kır (2015), Poirier et al (2019), Watchman et al (2017) and Shen et al (2021). The spaces using laminated wooden beams and steel beams were perceived as broader and larger compared to the spaces using post-tensioned concrete beams.…”

“…The transitions of materials, the intersecting points, the relationships of emptiness and fullness, and the colour attributes can create different influences on users. Studies conducted in this area (Burnard and Kutnar, 2015; Fujisaki et al , 2015; Garip and Seymen, 2021; Ikei and Miyazaki, 2020; Kır, 2015; Poirier et al , 2019; Shen et al , 2021; Watchman et al , 2017) reported that many attributes of the type of materials used in interior spaces, such as colour, texture, relationship with environment and light, affect spatial perception. The careful and correct selection of each building material in interior design is particularly important for obtaining the expected features from the surfaces formed in the space.…”

“…Architectural studies until the 1980s only dwelled upon the physical attributes of the space, such as colour, light, texture, form and material. Many studies (Aydıntan, 2001; Burnard and Kutnar, 2015; Fujisaki et al , 2015; Garip and Seymen, 2021; Hidayetoglu et al , 2012; Ikei and Miyazaki, 2020; Poirier et al , 2019; Shen et al , 2021; Torres et al , 2020; Watchman et al , 2017; Yildirim et al , 2015, 2019b) stated that the differences among individual characteristics, such as age, gender, occupation and the characteristics of spaces, such as size, material, colour and furniture density can have significant effects on users’ perceptual evaluations.…”

“…It was claimed that spaces using wood created less tension and tiredness compared to spaces not using wood (Zhang et al , 2017). Watchman et al (2017) evaluated the space using wood as more positive than other materials for comfort and satisfaction of the space. Poirier et al (2019) researched the perceptual effects on users of daylight and different wooden types.…”

Post-Occupancy Evaluation’s (POE) Applications for Improving Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ)

“…Conversely, some authors only carried out qualitative evaluations, as follows: the authors of [ 135 ] analyzed the relationship between defects and occupant satisfaction and loyalty in build-then-sell houses; the authors of [ 86 ] assessed how maintenance features might affect occupant satisfaction; the authors of [ 71 ] analyzed the demand for space in the common areas of student residences in Iran; the authors of [ 153 ] applied the POE to understand how occupants perceive wood in built environments; the authors of [ 129 ] analyzed how the social dimension of physical space in educational contexts can explain a student’s academic achievement.…”