Spatial Experience Evaluation Through Soundscape Perception: Architecture Studio Classroom Case

Sound has an important role in how users perceive their environment. Under this context, a soundscape approach was followed for the evaluation of indoor spatial experience of university architecture studios. A tailored framework of factors affecting sound perception and spatial experience was proposed for this study and used in the questionnaire. An indoor soundscape questionnaire investigating architecture students’ perception of their acoustical environment and how it affects their spatial experience was designed and applied. The survey was conducted with a total of 191 first-grade and fourth-grade students. Demographic characteristics were found to be statistically associated with users’ indoor environment expectations and acoustic perception. Among many statistically significant correlations between soundscape perception and spatial experience, correlations between intelligibility perception and architectural design expectations, as well as between perception of and reaction to sound sources and perception of spatial experience factors, stood out.