Assessment of Residence-Based Architectural Firms in South-West Nigeria: Users’ Characteristics and Perceptions

Abstract

A residence-based architectural firm operates at the Principal Architect’s house as it serves a dual purpose of being a place of residence and also a place of business. Most of the buildings used for this dual purpose fall short of the required facilities, thereby, making it difficult for effective discharge especially of architectural firm purpose. The study thus analysed users’ perceptions on the available facilities for use to serve both the home and office in order to design facility for the home-office architectural practice. A cross-sectional survey design of both exploratory and descriptive approaches was employed for the study. A structured questionnaire focusing on housing and workplace characteristics was administered to 150 respondents. The data were analysed using frequency counts, cross tabulations, charts as well as content analysis. Findings from the study revealed that majority (62%) operated out of private homes built exclusively for dwelling with 40% being detached bungalow house types with the highest room numbers, (47%) being within 5 to 6 rooms, of these 47% served primarily as architectural firms. The staff strength was generally low (32%) and were between 6-10 people with 44% staffers working for 8 hours daily. While 57% of members of staff would prefer to stay for work overnight, 33% currently do not. Building features and neighborhood facilities are the main factors of satisfaction. The study also gathered that though the residential facilities available for use were good enough, they were not adequate for professional practice.

Keywords: architecture practices, accommodation, facilities, residence-based firms, users

DOI: 10.7176/ADS/79-11

Publication date: December 31^st 2019