Wayfinding in complex multilevel buildings A case study of University Utrecht Langeveld building

Abstract

This study is concerned with human wayfinding in complex public buildings. Wayfinding design primarily includes the two aspects of how to prevent problems from occurring and how to resolve problems after they occur. The former is directly related to architectural design, while the latter is related to signage. This study is mainly focused on the architectural design of the built environment. Spatial configuration as well as wayfinding behavior of users is investigated. An empirical study in a complex multi-level University building is performed, comparing wayfinding performance measures of first-time-visitors to a variety of locations. In addition, an architectural analysis of the building is performed, and possible causes for wayfinding problems are depicted. An attempt is made to link wayfinding performance of participants to the architectural analysis. A relation is found, and a floor plan analysis could therefore be used to predict human wayfinding behavior. From the converging results of both experiments, some design modifications to improve navigability in the Langeveld building are suggested.