Examining Public Building for People with Disabilities: Focus Group Study of Post-Occupancy Evaluation of Ed Roberts Campus

Linda Zimmer (University of Oregon)
Kyuho Ahn (University of Oregon)

Our research team designed and conducted a post occupancy evaluation (POE) of a civic building, the Ed Roberts Campus, that serves individuals with various disabilities. Based on well-attended participatory exercises during the design phase of the building, the architects established a set of design hypotheses and strategies to accommodate a wide spectrum of disability conditions. Our goal was to gather feedback from users with various disability profiles to evaluate and compare their perceptions of how building design performed.

This study uses Presser’s (1983) building performance criteria: (1) Health, safety and security; (2) Functional efficiency and workflow; and (3) Psycho- sociological aspects. The methodology combines interviews with individual tagging exercises using a set of pre-printed sticky notes. The notes combine universal graphics with specific written prompts that are indexed to performance criteria. Participants fill out and post their tags on spaces and elements in the building about perceived design qualities of the tagged spaces/elements. A total of 16 users (male=5, female=10, non-gender conforming=1) participated, representing various disability groups (abled = 3, mobility=3, vision=2, hearing=1; cognitive=1, olfactory=1, multipledisabilities=5). Among them 6 participants used assistive devices.

Most feedback on perceived design quality was positive. However, people with different disability profiles had nuanced perceptions of safety, wayfinding and aesthetics. Functionality and elimination of vulnerability were valued while maintenance was linked to perceived safety. A central visible ramp was a common positive feature (for egress and aesthetics) however, emergency egress is a concern for vision impaired and deaf participants. Sighted individuals also valued natural light, views of the street and flexible open atrium spaces. Visually impaired users viewed flexible open spaces less positively and noted distinct soundscapes and texture changes but did not always use these as intended. Further research findings and opportunities will be addressed in the presentation.