Investigating Space Use Patterns in a Malaysian Hospital Courtyard Garden: Lessons from real-time observation of patients, staff and visitors

Abstract

This paper examines the behaviour of users of a large central courtyard in a hospital with the aim to develop an understanding of the activities and the space use patterns of patients, staff and visitors. Video-based and direct observation, as well as behaviour mapping, were employed to investigate how different types of users interact with the courtyard garden. This study reveals that significant differences existed in the way different user groups utilised the courtyard garden on a daily basis and this was found to be highly influenced by the physical environment, the hospital opening hours and the courtyard micro-climate.eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v3i8.1413