Search

This research attempts to evaluate Parkway North Senior High School from the users' viewpoint to find out how successful the building is in meeting the design objectives. The intentions of the project were to (1) determine users' attitudes toward their environment; (2) determine degree of adaptation exerted on the building, both in terms of how far the users are willing to go with the building's flexibility and how far the building is adapting to the users' demands; and (3) determine the extent to which initial design objectives were satisfied and how this affects the building's performance from the users' standpoint. Information was secured from questionnaires completed by 16 members of the school's teaching staff chosen at random, and by 113 randomly chosen students. Information was also secured by the author conducting observations of the classrooms, sketching furniture arrangements and groups in the classrooms, and measuring noise level and ability to hear speakers at various positions. The findings are discussed in the body of the report. Copies of the questionnaires, tabulations, photographs, and excerpts from the architects' design objectives booklet are in the appendixes. (Author/MLF)