Health promoting spatial design characteristics of Korean apartment house in a user-benefit perspective

This study was intended to evaluate the empirically spatial design characteristics from a perspective of users and to determine what kind of benefits that health-promoting spatial design characteristics can give to residents. The major method used in this study was the web questionnaire survey. Two hundred ten people between the ages of thirty and fifty who live in Seoul and the metropolitan area were surveyed. As a result, "Physiological Maintenance" was ranked top in the list of four categories for user benefit criteria (UBC), followed by behavioural facilitation, social facilitation and perceptual maintenance. Among the items of sub-categories, consumer's demand for physiological maintenance was most highly regarded as essential. Demand for "No poisonous element" was the highest followed by "Good natural and artificial ventilation" and "Good day-lighting." In this study, health promoting, spatial design characteristics were investigated pragmatically based on the UBC theory as well as diverse demands given by the residents. This paper was presented to provide the design characteristics that are required for healthy housing to meet the various consumers' demand. The findings of this study would provide pragmatic information for architectural design for healthy living.