Post Occupancy Evaluation of Internal Spaces Sufficiency In Multi-Family Housing

Abstract

Multi-family housing had been considered as an optimum solution to cover the housing need in Duhok city. Therefore, this type of housing structure should be designed based on standards established by authorities to be proper to family criteria. So the research problem is, some parameters of spaces sufficiency in multi-family housing did not follow the standards, and this led to resident’s dissatisfaction. This study aims to compare the number and size of spaces in dwellings as the main parameters of space sufficiency with housing technical standards for Iraq, and it attempts to evaluate these parameters from the resident’s satisfaction view by using the post-occupancy evaluation method. Cases study are multi-family housing settlements implemented by the investment sector in Duhok city. The methodology is based on a questionnaire survey for data collection. Results from data analysis show that most of the internal spaces sufficiency parameters are exceeded the standards, except the size of internal storage, which had been neglected in most of the dwellings’ design. The results also illustrate that there is a significant relationship between the level of resident’s satisfaction and the sufficiency of dwelling spaces, while the critical factor that has the highest contribution in predicting the satisfaction of overall dwelling size is the number of bedrooms. Finally, the study recommends that housing technical standards for Iraq should be adopted as a guideline for dwellings’ design regarding the number and size of internal spaces to minimize the waste in the dwelling areas and reduce the prices while increasing the value of dwellings in order to have a more affordable housing and sustainable living condition in multi-family housing projects in Duhok city.