User-focused evaluation of architecture faculties in terms of building performance

Building Performance Evaluation (BPE) is a systematic process that measures the extent to which a building meets its users' requirements. This process is particularly crucial for educational buildings, which play a critical role in nurturing future generations. This study aims to evaluate building performance based on student satisfaction levels at seven leading Architecture Faculty buildings in Turkey (METU, DEU, GTU, BUU, KTU, ERU, FU). The Faculties of Architecture are considered both as spaces where prospective designers are educated and as buildings that shape the future built environment. The performance analysis was conducted using surveys and semi-structured interviews examining the building's environmental and functional characteristics. The data obtained were analyzed using the SPSS Statistical Data Analysis Program. The findings indicate that the examined buildings have significant deficiencies in areas such as thermal, acoustic, and visual comfort, air quality, functionality, and social space utilization. In DEU and BUU, capacity overload due to increasing student quotas led to studios and classrooms becoming inadequate, with corridors being converted into temporary workspaces, creating functional problems. At GTU, the open-studio configuration caused acoustic comfort violations due to its relationship with surrounding volumes, while at KTU, insufficient daylight resulting from the building's orientation created serious visual comfort problems. At ERU, internal noise reduced acoustic performance, and dissatisfaction with the aesthetic value of the immediate surroundings emphasized the weakness of building-environment integration. Furthermore, accessibility shortcomings for the disabled at ODTU, and the inadequacy of support spaces such as those for socializing, resting, and stationery in all faculties, especially FU, highlighted the necessity for educational buildings to be multi-layered spaces that respond not only to academic needs but also to social and psychological requirements. This evaluation underscores the critical importance of user-centric design for educational buildings and provides concrete recommendations for the comfort and functionality requirements of future educational buildings.