Formulation of a system for documentation of user requirements : a design tool for walk-up apartments in urban Sri Lanka

Abstract

Mass housing is very popular and is practiced all around the world. The most significant feature in mass- housing is the un-availability of an identified user or a set of user requirements. It has found that the biggest mismatch evident is in between the provided housing and the wants and the needs of the occupants. As specialists like Hamdi (1991)points out, this happens due to the lack of data and updated information on the wants and the needs of the occupants. The housing designers get these updated data and information by studying the existing housing stock. In SriLankan context at present, it is found that no such studies have been done to fulfill this need. Therefore developing a system to record the data and necessary information is a felt need. Two basic avenues are found in developing a system in documenting data on housing. One is the study of the categories of users in terms of Social Classes and developing a system. The other is the study of the user requirements and the documentation of them. Out of these two options the second option (i.e. the study of user requirements) was selected. This provides the housing designers the opportunity to derive conclusions for their designs. For the purpose of easy collection of data and gathering information as well as for the quick references a questionnaire has been developed. This questionnaire covers the aspects of household composition of the occupants and the components of the given house in isolation; the house composition and the spatial arrangement; finally the house finishes. The developed systems has been tried out in real situations. Through the exercise, several unseen and unattended aspects were identified When the collected data and information were analyzed it was possible to arrive at design conclusions. The unchanging nature of the design brief which is quite necessary to change with time is an example of a such conclusion. The minimum requirements for present day apartment housing is another factor which was revealed through this study. It can be concluded that the occupants demand housing which satisfy their wants primarily and further more deep needs in their family life. Due to the time constraints this study was limited to walk-up apartment housing in Urban Sri Lanka.