Human factors and ergonomic principles in building design for life and work activities: an applied methodology

Even though all human activities are executed in a built environment, only a few studies seem to be available about a building design methodology based on an ergonomic approach. The article presents a preliminary survey of some principles driven by human factors/ergonomics discipline, analysing the role they play in the architectural design process, in order to define a design methodology supporting the building designer to create working and living spaces actually fitting the needs of inhabitants. The human-centred building design methodology presented here takes inspiration from the holistic approach of ergonomics. It depicts an iterative process for architectural design activities including human factors principles, such as users’ involvement, their variability and diversity consideration, stereotypes and standards followed. The design methodology is described in operational steps supported by practical examples related to different architectural scales.