The Evaluation of Medium-Rise Residential Buildings in Famagusta According to Climate Responsive Design Elements

The impact of climate on building design characteristic has existed from the beginning of man's searching for housing till today. However, the way it was expressed changed due to the changing of human needs, development of knowledge, and technology. Nowadays, many buildings around the world are trying to achieve the comfort for the user and the climate, due to the adverse effects on the climate, especially on nature, that appears from the harmful methods of human daily life, such as the uncontrolled use of the natural resources for the buildings sector, whether it is in construction or operation process. This study focusses on improving the quality of building design for the users and the climate with the consideration of climate factors. This improvement is surely to be achieved by understanding the relationship between building and climate impact by means of climate responsive design strategies. The new residential mid-rise buildings in Famagusta, North-Cyprus, were selected as case studies to analyze how they have been impacted by the climate responsive design elements. Based on the analysis of the compared case studies it was found out that the consideration of climate responsive design elements is limited. The building design of the case studies has not considered the existing climate condition. Therefore, the building design in Famagusta has to be improved by adopting the suggested building design strategies for Famagusta climate conditions.