USER PERCEPTION OF LOCATION OF FACILITIES IN PUBLIC BUILDING DESIGNS IN SELECTED CITIES IN NIGERIA.

Abstract

Public buildings designs in Nigeria vary based on the activity that is conducted therein. The designs for such buildings are commissioned by the owners or the government and the architects that work on such designs usually satisfy the needs of the clients with little attempt at meeting the needs of the prospective users. A common user problem with design of public building is the location of facilities. The aim of this paper is to determine if the user of public buildings are satisfied with the design decision taken by architects. A survey was conducted using questionnaire method to elicit the opinion of the end users regarding the buildings while data was analyzed using SPSS. The results reveal that the 84% of the users were not satisfied with the arrangement of facilities while 83% considered ease of movements as being poor. It was discovered that the need for user participation in public buildings provision in Nigeria and it should be a criterion before building approval is given for the construction of such buildings.