Active Design Strategies in Malaysian Commercial & Institutional Buildings: A Review. (Part 1)

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

ACTIVE DESIGN STRATEGIES IN MALAYSIAN COMMERCIAL & INSTITUTIONAL BUILDINGS: A REVIEW.

NUR ALYAA BINTI ADNAN

2017457596

ARK805 DISSERTATION

MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE

JANUARY 2019

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

ACTIVE DESIGN STRATEGIES IN MALAYSIAN COMMERCIAL & INSTITUTIONAL BUILDINGS: A REVIEW.

NUR ALYAA BINTI ADNAN

Disertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture

Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying

December 2018

Active Design Strategies in Malaysian Commercial & Institutional Buildings: A Review | ARK 805 Dissertation

ACTIVE DESIGN STRATEGIES IN MALAYSIAN COMMERCIAL & INSTITUTIONAL BUILDINGS: A REVIEW.

This report has been submitted to the Centreof Studies for Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, Planning and Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, to fulfil the requirement of ARK805 DISSERTATION course.

Prepare by:

Name of Student : NUR ALYAA BINTI ADNAN

Student I.D. No. : 2017457596

Programme : MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE

Faculty : Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying

Year / Semester : YEAR 2 / SEMESTER 3

Session : 20187 – Session 2 2018/2019

September 2018- January 2019

Active Design Strategies in Malaysian Commercial & Institutional Buildings: A Review | ARK 805 Dissertation

AUTHOR’S DECLARATION

I declare that the work in this Dissertation was carried out in accordance with the regulations of Universiti Teknologi MARA. It is original and is the result of my own work, unless otherwise indicated or acknowledgement as referenced work. This Dissertation has not been submitted to any other academic institution or non-institution for any degree or qualification.

I, hereby, acknowledge that I have been supplied with the Academic Rules and Regulations for Post Graduate, Universiti Teknologi Mara, regulating the conduct of my study and research

Name of Student : Nur Alyaa Binti Adnan

Student I.D. No. : 2017457596

Programme : Master of Architecture

Faculty : Architecture, Planning & Surveying

Thesis : Active Design Strategies in Malaysian Commercial & Institutional Buildings: A Review.

Supervisor : Pn. Mazuiyah Bt. Mohd Dom

Coordinator : Dr. Hj. Abu Bakar Hj. Abd. Raub

Signature of Student : ……………………………………………..

Date : January 2019

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am earnestly grateful for the chances given to complete this task in a good health and blessings. It was great latitude to be guided, supported and encouraged by a dedicated supervisor Puan Mazuiyah Bt. Mohd Dom. Her enthusiasm and deep insights in helping her students in completing this task is such a pleasant. I owe her my thanks and gratitude.

My appreciation also goes to my family for their constant support while conducting the study. Endless inspiring advices from them kept me spirited.

AndIamvastlygratefultobesupportedwithcommittedandhelpfulfriends whoalways provided me necessary and crucial information and thoughts sharing throughout the semester.

Special thanks, to the selected respondents who provided the assistance during the data collecting and for helping me with this research.

Nur Alyaa Binti Adnan, January 2019

Theadvancementoftechnologiesand non-stop development ofcomputer-basedwork, studying, including digitalized leisure had changed on how we perceive our daily task and environment thus, habituated to indoor activities that involves massive amount of seating time and habitual sedentary behaviour. Despite having jobs and multiple activities in a day, most people regardless children or adult both spend their daily basis on desk-work or handheld techs. Children or teen adults in Malaysia spend approximately 7 hours of their time in school or institutional buildings, while adults spend most of their waking hours in offices or stuck in a seated commute, back and forth from home to work. In a 2018 report, cited from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG),commissionedbyUber,thereisanincreaseof68%inadditionaltimeifaperson travel during the peak hours in the city of Kuala Lumpur. In addition to that, a normal working-class adult in Asia spend a significant amount of time at their desks during working hours. A statistic released by the World Bank cited by the JobStreet Asia, the average working hours spent in the office bymost Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong working class adult is over 12 hours, wherein by now exceeds their contracted working hours. The accumulated hours of sedentary and inactivity per individual had led to high risked diseases. A study conducted by World Health Organization (WHO), inactivity is the latest and serious health concern that has yet to be enlightened to the public. 60 to 85% people in the world lead an inactive lifestyle with risky imminent health implication including children. Consequently, the relationship between physical activities or the overall body physical performance and individual general health is vitally important into developing a healthy and functional body and mind.

The indoor environment had become more prominent and took a huge percentage in a person’s daily basis. This paper aims to review both the direct and indirect existence of active design strategies integrated in the current commercial and institutional architecture in Malaysia. In the urban areas of Malaysia, social and leisure activities are heavily related indoors. During weekends or public holidays, Malaysian tends to spend most of their past-time indoors, either resting at home or visiting shopping malls. According to a survey cited by the Star Property at least 20% of urban population in Malaysia spend their weekend at shopping malls. There were many points in relation why Malaysian were motivated to visit shopping malls, among the inevitable reasons were due to the unpredictably varied and weather fluctuations, instead of facing the hassle of walking under the hot blazing sun or heavy rain, people tend to socialize in a safe & protected environment like malls complete with amenities, entertainment and commercial space. Hence this topic raises the question, does the existing architecture in Malaysiasuggest anopportunityto intentionallyimprove a person’sphysical healthand break the human daily sedentary habits? What type of active and physical activity stimulating designs were implemented in these buildings’ indoor environment?

As mentioned, physical activities are substantial to the general health development of an individual, nurturing physical, social and emotional wellbeing. In a research conducted by medical students from University of Alabama, low to moderate level of intensity activities could have an impact on an individual’s overall energy level and body weight. This significant result could be achieved by encouraging bodily movements thus reducing and breaking the accumulated sedentary behaviour time.

Nowadays, the use of the Active Design Guideline by The Centre of Active Design, New York appears to be widely and effectively used by architects, planners and designers to encourage physical activity and health awareness by implementing the strategies and policies in the built environment design. It has become a positively suggested design and planning strategy by professionals in relation onto improving healthierindoor environment forinhabitants. Asa result oftheimplementation of active design in architecture, buildings could also benefit regarding value and sustainability while encouraging building occupants into subconsciously making their own healthy choices, in which finding alternative means navigating whereabouts throughout buildings without relying on technology features that could inhibit occupants from achieving their minimum level of daily physical activity.

LIST OF TABLES

LIST OF FIGURES

Figures Title Page

Figure 1: Physical activity pattern depicted as percentage of day by sex column chart. Adapted from “Physical Activity Pattern and Energy Expenditure of Malaysian Adults: Findings from the Malaysian Adult Nutrition Survey (MANS)”, by Poh, B. K., Safiah, M. Y., T 22

Figure 2. The role of Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing & Local Development as one of the proposed leading agencies in the NASPAL’s Implementation Plan. Adapted from “The Implementation Plan 2017-2025”, by Ministry of Health Malaysia. Copyright 2017 by National Strategic Plan for Active Living (NASPAL). 23

Figure 3. The Ten Principles of Active Design helps achieve the optimization of the opportunities for active and healthylifestyle in urban living. Adapted from “Active Design”, by David Lock Associates, Town Planning & Urban Design. Copyright 2015 by Sport England Media. 27

Figure 4. Social ecological model of influences on physical activity diagram. Redrawn and adapted from “Influences of Building Design and Site Design on Physical Activity: Research and Intervention Opportunities”, by C. Zimring, A. Joseph, G.L. Nicoll, S. Tsepas, 2005, https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797%2804%29003058/pdf. Copyright 2005 by American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Figure 5.

by FR-EE Fernando Romero Enterprise. From “Video: TimeLapse Through FR-EE's Museo Soumaya”, by Y. Wegner, K. Rosenfield, 2014, Retrieved December 17, 2018, from https://www.archdaily.com/548366. Copyright Sept. 2014 by ArchDaily 2008-2018. 32

Commercial

Image of the interior design of the Museo Soumaya art gallery in Mexico City design

Figure 6. Example of buildings with a ‘weak program’. Shopping centres have wider range of target users, activities and footfall pattern.

space deliberately let its occupants to roam freely in order to increase foot traffic and sales. Image by Author, April 2018. 33

Figure 7. Relationship between types of building programs & physical activities achieved correlation chart. Redrawn and adapted from “Influences of Building Design and Site Design on Physical Activity: Research and Intervention Opportunities”, by Author. 34

Figure 8. A Celebrity Fitness outlet located in the One Utama Shopping Centre in Petaling Jaya. A commercial gym is the example of a recreational physical activity. Image by Author, November 2018.

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Figure 9. A continuous slope of greeneries and water features located at the rooftop of the PKNS Headquarters in Shah Alam. A rooftop garden is an example of open communal space that could encourage physical activity and induce social engagements. Image byAuthor, November 2017.

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Figure 10. Series of escalators anchored to an atrium inside a shopping gallery in Shenzhen, China. The atrium was topped with a skylight to introduce natural illuminance into the building. Image by Author, April 2018.

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Figure 11. Escalators is the most common mechanical transportation in which mainly use byretailers to provide convenience for their customers. Image by Author, December 2018.

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Figure 12. Manipulative variables, architectural elements & physical activities correlation diagram. Adapted from “Do Active Design Buildings Change Behaviour & Workplace Perceptions?”, by Author. 41

Figure 13. Effects of building program and its active design strategies correlation diagram. Adapted from “Impacts of active school design on schooltime sedentary behaviour & physical activity: A pilot natural experiment”, by Author.

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Figure 14. Future planning through analysing existing program diagram. Adapted from “Workspaces That Move People”, by Author. 44

Figure 15. Aerial view of the FSPU building located within the Built Environment and Design Complex of the UiTM, Puncak Alam campus. Redrawn and adapted from Google Maps. Image retrieved December 17, 2018, from https://www.google.com/maps. 50

Figure 16. Developed smooth interconnectivity between outdoor and indoor spaces; through integration of landscaping within academic building. Image by Author, November 2018. 52

Figure 17. Paved jogging path encircling the retention pond, leading to the recreation area of the faculty. Image by Author, November 2018. 52

Figure 18. View of the retention pond from the cafeteria. The dining area was strategically located next to the beautiful landscaping. Image by Author, November 2018.

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Figure 19. The image of the supporting programs buildings; Anjung Selera (cafeteria), prayer hall and the PTAR resource centre from the other side of the pond. Image by Author, November 2018.

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Figure 20. Covered pathways provides protection from harsh weather and encourage continuous journey throughout the faculty, also enhance the connectivity between the academic buildings and other facilities. Image by Author, November 2018. 54

Figure 21. The slightly recessed amphitheatre and outdoor stage are part of the active design strategies to encourage and facilitate students’ outdoor activities. Image by Author, November 2018. 55

Figure 22. Additional facilitylike gazebos and outdoor seating increases the occupant’s outdoor activities & social interaction. Image by Author, November 2018. 55

Figure 23. Recreational facilities include jogging paths and outdoor gym help supplements physical activities and elevates the active atmosphere throughout the campus. Image by Author, November 2018. 56

Figure 24. An outdoor staircase is anchored to the courtyard of the FSPU building. Image by Author, November 2018

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Figure 25. The directories of FSPU building. Image by Author, November 2018 57

Figure 26. Big, and clear signage on buildings enables quick wayfinding within the campus. Image by Author, November 2018

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Figure27.Path taken byboth respondent from point Ato point B.Adapted fromGoogle Maps. Image by Author.

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Figure 28. Respondent 1 rather uses the open staircase located at the lobby of AD building compared to the ones located at the FSPU building lobby because it took the shortest amount of time and eliminates the hassle

of waiting for the elevator or opening heavy fire-rated door. Image by Author, November 2018. 60

Figure 29. The bridge connecting the level 2 of AD and FSPU building, taken by Respondent 1 to reach Point B. Image by Author, November 2018.

Figure 30. Two main elevators located at the lobby of FSPU academic building. Image by Author, November 2018.

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Figure 31.Enclosed fire staircase located at the lobby. Image by Author, November 2018.

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Figure 32. Open ventilated staircase, yet enclosed. Image by Author, November 2018

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Figure 33.Path taken by both respondent from point Bto point C.AdaptedfromGoogle Maps. Image by Author.

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Figure 34. Unofficial path with no roof coverage; this path taken by Respondent 1 was eventually paved prior due to occurrence of footfall and occupants’ habits ofcreatingashortcut from themainacademicbuildingto other facilities. Image by Author, November 2018.

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Figure 35. Officially covered and paved walkways taken by Respondent 2 from point B to point C. Image by Author, November 2018.

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Figure36.Path taken byboth respondent from point C to point D.AdaptedfromGoogle Maps. Image by Author.

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Figure 37. A covered bridge crossing over the retention pond leading to the Dewan Berlian and recreation area. Image by Author, November 2018. 68

Figure 38. View of the jogging path following the pond edges, taken from the Lakeside Gallery. Image by Author, December 2018.

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Figure 39. An alternative path to the Lakeside Gallery that provides flexible security, however due to frequently dark and unlit corridor dissuades the occupants to walk through it. Image by Author, November 2018.

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Figure 40. Both respondent paths overlapped along this path prior to reaching the multipurpose hall because of the freedom of movements and much flexible security. Image by Author, December 2018.

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Figure 41. Aerial view of the IKEA Damansara located within the Mutiara Damansara commercial hub. Redrawn and adapted from Google Maps. Image

Figure 42. A perspective view of the Mutiara Damansara MRT station. From Google Maps Photos, by A. Velios, October 2017. Retrieved December 2018, from https://www.google.com/maps. Copyright 2017 by Google Maps. 72

Figure 43. Image of the maze layout plan of the IKEA Damansara, Retrieved December 17, 2018, from https://m.ikea.com/my/en/stores/damansara/storemap/. Copyright IKEA Malaysia. 73

Figure 44. IKEA interactive and attractive products displays encourage consumers’ exploration. Image by Author, December 2018.

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Figure 45. The location of the IKEA’s café, lavatories and additional amenities were strategically planned to provide pause on one’s trip and help lengthens the journey. Image by Author, December 2018

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Figure 46. The IKEA product display hall is located on the 1st floor level, from the ground level, the entryways were divided into three different architectural elements, an elevator, an escalator and a staircase to cater different visitors needs and travel choice. Image by Author, December 2018.

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Figure 47. Mapping-style directories with detailed zoning and additional amenities signage provides visitors with easy and clear navigation including their current whereabouts. Image by Author, December 2018

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Figure 48. The walking lanes and display area were differentiate using different coloured flooring to ensure smooth consumers’ traffic flow. Image by Author, December 2018.

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Figure 49. Projected arrows leading to the showroom and guide the visitors throughout series of product displays without getting lost or stuck in a loop, thus encouragingvisitors to gofurther. ImagebyAuthor, December2018. 77

Figure 50. Intervention of public toilets in between the product displays to ensure the visitors comfort and guaranteeing a longer & continuous journey. Image by Author, December 2018

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Figure 51. Path taken by both respondents from point A to point B. Extracted from Fitbit, Inc. Image by Author.

Figure 52. Image of the Basement 2 level carpark (Point A). Image by Author, November 2018. 80

Figure 53. Image the escalator used by Respondent 2 upon reaching Basement 2 level entrance. Image by Author, November 2018.

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Figure 54. Image the staircase used by Respondent 1 upon reaching the Basement 2 level entrance. Image by Author, November 2018.

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Figure 55. Image from the ground level of IKEA Damansara; Respondent 1 deliberately continue to take the staircase while Respondent 2 continues using the escalator to reach to the Level 1 showroom (Point B). Image by Author, November 2018.

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Figure 56. Path taken by both respondents from point B to point C. Extracted from Fitbit, Inc. Image by Author. 83

Figure 57. Level 1 showroom layout plan of the IKEA Damansara, Retrieved December 17, 2018, from https://m.ikea.com/my/en/stores/damansara/storemap/.

Copyright IKEA Malaysia. 84

Figure 58. Image of consumers walking along the fixed path while browsing through the showroom. Image by Author, November 2018. 85

Figure 59. Path taken byboth respondent from point C to point D. Extracted from Fitbit, Inc. Image by Author. 86

Figure 60. Escalators used by both respondents to head down to the ground level IKEA’s Market hall and Warehouse. Image by Author, December 2018.

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Figure 61. Ground level Market hall and Warehouse respective layout plan of the IKEA Damansara, Retrieved December 17, 2018, from https://m.ikea.com/my/en/stores/damansara/storemap/.

Copyright IKEA Malaysia.

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Figure 62. Image of the IKEA’s Market hall area; Due to the one continuous journey, both respondents reaches the Market hall area prior to reaching the furniture warehouse area. Image by Author, November 2018. 88

Figure 63. Image of the furniture warehouse area. Image by Author, November 2018. 89

Figure 64. Image of the cash registry exit. Image by Author, December 2018. 89

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

1.1 Research Background

Building design has given impact on public health since the 19th century in which it helps to mitigate infectious diseases due to overcrowding and inadequate public health system through improving public sanitation and health provisions This shows that built environment plays a role and have a noteworthy impact on the public’s general health

Based on this historic precedent, active design was inspired to help induce the public health through meticulous considerations in architectural elements designs to increase physical activeness, mental health and social well-being of communities. According to an interview with Lauren Friedrich, a graduate student of Harvard’s Graduate School of Design (GSD) about her graduating thesis on exploring the changing relationship between architecture and healthy living, she mentions that preceding architectural design has diminutive consideration on movement and how the human physical body could have actually been configured through movements. This apparently raise the question whether the built environment can also have a major impact on public physical health in terms of shaping the human physical activeness and healthy habits. This also highlights the interventions and roles of professionals ranging from built environment expertise like architects, landscape architects, urban planners and developers to medical practitioners & researchers in helping to expand the urban residents' opportunity for a better quality of life There have been many international precedent studies that provides support and justification for built environment professionals to consider incorporation of active design elements therefore strengthens and heightens the correlation and objective of imminent studies between built environment and health.

Active Design builds on health research, it shows that design can impact nowadays’ biggest challenges in which chronic illnesses or known as a non-communicable disease (NCD) that gradually increase due to sedentary lifestyles, referring to issues

for instance people are getting too dependent on technologies, as for example, computerized work-based, wireless communications and mechanical transportation in buildings. In a 2012 research finding published by the National Institute of Health on the worldwide health impact caused by physical inactivity, finds that sedentary lifestyle is accountable for premature mortality and numerous diseases for example, coronary heart disease (CHD), type 2 diabetes, colon and breast cancer, anxiety and depression. The research finding also expected less than 1.3 million deaths could be averted annually if physical inactivity were to be decrease globally by up to 10 to 25%, life expectancy could also increase by 0.68 (0.41 to 0.95) years. According to a news article published by the New Straits Times in November 2018, the commonness of physical inactivity among Malaysian population is 38.8 percent in 2016. The article cites that, Malaysian physical activeness has improved incrementally since 2008, however, in comparison to other countries at a global scale, Malaysia still has quite a high physical inactivity rate. As a supplemental evident, a survey conducted by the World Health Survey, Malaysian physical inactivity was considered as the highest among the Western Pacific Region countries with the rate of 16.5 per cent thus putting Malaysia at high risk of suffering the “Sedentary death syndrome (SeDS)” a major population level health hazard that causes chronic illnesses dues to sedentary behaviour. (Lees, S. J., & Booth, F. W.,2004).

The New Straits Times article on “Heal with Exercise” also cites the World Health Organization (WHO) has sanctioned a target to reduce the prevalence of physical inactivity as one of the nine global voluntary targets to prevent and control the noncommunicable diseases. A ‘Global Action Plan on Physical Activity’ and a toolkit was also launched to guide countries to help reduce physical inactivity with a target of 12.5 percent drop in sedentary habit rates by 2030. In response to the target, Malaysia has also published a guide to physical activity, National Strategic Plan on Active Living (NASPAL) as part of the government agenda to reduce non-communicable diseases.

1.2 Problem Statement

The topic reviewed is due to the rising concern on the increasing health problems caused by physical inactivity and sedentary habits in our daily routines. Gadgets, mobile apps, computer software and mechanical technologies were essentially used all the time either for learning purposes, task completion or transportation in which causes an extensive amount of time spent indoors and on transportation.

According to the ‘Nutrition at Work’ survey conducted by Herbalife, 86% of Malaysia’s white-collar workforce spend less than 30 minutes of physical activity per day while working in offices. The survey also suggests that the millennial workers or known as the Generation Y (born between the year 1981 to 1996), whom are likely more tech-savvy are most probable to spend larger amount of time at their desk compared to non-millennials workers. However, the finding states that most millennials aspire to change their working and sedentary habits if their working environment encourages the healthy lifestyle. As additional evidence, other countries also faces similar on rising problems, according to an article published by the American Heart Association, the continuously growing of mass technology and varied transit modes that require less physical activity had become the main factor to the rise of sedentary habits in an individual lifestyle. Since the 1950s, the numbers of sedentary jobs in the United States have been increasing up to 83%, while jobs that requires physical activity only makes up less than 20% in the overall workforce.

According to another study by Malaysian Journal of Nutrition, many Malaysian adults spent most of their time in the sitting position with average mean of 586.8 minutes per day, which means 40.8% from their daily activities were dangerously in sedentary behaviour.

Attributable to spending most of our waking time within the built environments per day, this chain of issues creates the question whether an individual from a particular age group could achieve their daily minimum physical activeness level in order to retain a healthy body and mind by only means through their daily activities or routines in which only revolves within their accustomed environment like institutional buildings, workplace or commercial space. These types of buildings have the biggest opportunity to actually improve both physical and mental health among their designated occupants in a larger scale by revamping and carefully planning the active design elements to be more encouraging in which turning dull, repetitive routines into a strategy which eventually help increase interest and participation in physical activeness due to a much enjoyable and encouraging environment.

Institutional buildings’ design components in Malaysia were usually provided based on the planning authority guidelines and standards and to comply with the listed supposedly supported programs and activities that an academic building should provide for the students and staffs. And because of the academically-based activities

Figure 1: Physical activity pattern depicted as percentage of day by sex column chart. Adapted from “Physical Activity Pattern and Energy Expenditure of Malaysian Adults: Findings from the Malaysian Adult Nutrition Survey (MANS)”, by Poh, B. K., Safiah, M. Y., T

and rigid programs, institutions or school architecture had only evolved incrementally, and the design is often repetitive in terms of the built-in physical aspects and site selection. Although institutional buildings may have unintentionally provided the required physical activity among students through “routine activities”, like walking to class or going for a lunch at the cafeteria, still, there were yet lacking the enlightenment and studies concerning integrating active design in Malaysian built environment. Similar situation to the commercial and retail buildings. Even though the approach was different due to its wider range of programs and different goals. However, the physical activity was imposed onto its visitors is only to intentionally increase footfall as part of their retailing strategy and no further. Evidence can be seen from the implementation plan published in National Strategic Plan on Active Living (NASPAL) launched by the Malaysian government in 2017 (see Figure 2), the role placed on the Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing & Local Government Malaysia has not yet addressed the issue regarding the implementation of active design strategies in buildings architecture despite through the provision of active buildings could actually help the country achieve its physical inactivity reduction target at a population level a lot faster, more efficient and cheaper.

Adapted from “The Implementation Plan 2017-2025”, by Ministry of Health Malaysia. Copyright 2017 by National Strategic Plan for Active Living (NASPAL).

Figure 2. The role of Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing & Local Development as one of the proposed leading agencies in the NASPAL’s Implementation Plan

1.3 Aim

The aim of the study is to review current literatures on active design architecture and analyse the application of active design strategy in the existing Malaysian institutional and commercial built environment including its site selection.

1.4 Objectives

a) To identify the current practice and active design strategies implemented on different building purpose group in Malaysia.

b) To determine the impact of these active design strategies on the occupant’s general health.

c) To analyse the relationship between active design elemental & building users physical activeness.

1.5 Methodology

1.5.1 Literature Review

This study is primarily to provide an extensive documentation based on current publications and papers. Appropriate papers have been chosen to be reviewed and extend on one chosen point of view. There are three (3) papers chosen for the literature, they are:

i. Influences of Building Design and Site Design on Physical Activity by Craig Zimring, Anjali Joseph, Gayle. L. Nicoll, Sharon Tsepas (2005)

ii. Do Active Design Buildings Change Health Behaviour and Workplace Perceptions? by L. Engelen, H.M. Dhillon, J.Y. Chau, D. Hespe, A.E. Bauman (2016)

iii. Impacts of Active School Design on School Time Sedentary Behavior and Physical Activity: A Pilot Natural Experiment by Jeri Brittin, Leah Frerichs, John R. Sirard, Nancy M. Wells, Beth M. Myers, Jeanette Garcia, Dina Sorensen, Matthew J. Trowbridge, Terry Huang (2017)

The chosen papers were analysed and summarized. All of the point of view from each literature is arranged and compare to identify the answers on what to achieve in this study. The literature gap from the point of view will be extend in the chapter of data and analysis (Chapter 4) while the some of the criteria from the summarization of the literature will be used to conduct the case study methodology.

1.5.2 Case Studies

The study was conducted on 2 types of building purpose group, a commercial and an institutional building both located in Selangor, Malaysia. Both buildings were currently active and fully operated and has a relatively high occupancy capacity. The data collected was through observational chart that described the active design elements exist and the layout planning in the buildings including its site context Then, a quantitative data was tabulated to define the effects of the active design elements on the selected respondents’ physical activity through step count and calorific output with specific considerations.

1.6 Summary

This study on active design strategies in Malaysian commercial and institutional buildings is to find out whether through the intervention of current architectural design elements and indoor planning could have impacted an individual’s physical activeness and general health.

Through active design strategies interventions in building architecture, this study aims to help the Malaysian government to achieve the physical activeness goal mentioned in NASPAL and be a strong component for imminent active design strategies studies on Malaysian building architecture. Therefore, by focusing the study on architecture like commercial and institutional buildings with high number of daily visitations and footfall, could help achieve the physical activity goal at a population level more efficiently The literature review is reviewed in the next chapter, followed by Methodology in Chapter 3, Findings and Discussion in Chapter 4, prior to conclusion in the last chapter.

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Background

2.1.1 Definition of Active Design.

The definition of Active Design as clarified by the Centre for Active Design, New York, “It is an evidence-based approach to development that identifies urban planning and architecture solutions to support healthy communities”.

“Design professionals and developers have a real role to play in public health, and that role wasn’t understood a decade ago,” Joanna Frank, of the Centre for Active Design in New York, also mention that the movement is to purposely improve the community wellbeing by integrating physical activities through built environment. Collaborating multidisciplinary professionals’ ability and advocates resources could help reverse the design trends that continuously fostering human physical inactivity and sedentary habits.

According to the Sport England Organization, there were ten principles of active design identified in the urban design planning and practice (see Figure 3) In their published guideline on active design, the principles can be applied in varied ways and form of design developments within different settings and environments. It is to promote a potentially active and healthy lifestyle among individuals and communities either in new or the existing development.

Figure 3 The Ten Principles of Active Design helps achieve the optimization of the opportunities for active and healthy lifestyle in urban living. Adapted from “Active Design”, by David Lock Associates, Town Planning & Urban Design. Copyright 2015 by Sport England Media.

2.1.2 Active Design in Building Architecture.

In this study, the focus of active design will be on building architecture. Among the ten principles categorized by the Sport England Organization, active design for building architecture was known as ‘Active Building’. As defined by them, Active Building is the planning layout, design and use of a building that could or should promote the intervention of physical activities among its dwellers.

According to the Active Design Guidelines published by the Centre for Active

Design, a building is an excellent setting to provide the opportunity to impose a regular or immediate physical activity on an individual or a community. Many physically demanding acts could be engaged through building design, such as stair climbing, or walking along a corridor. As mentioned in the guide, it is recognised that this form of although brief but regular physical activity, could be the most economical and highly accessible to create participation among end users. In order to create an activity-friendly environment, active buildings, were largely motivated by the integration of the principles of active design within the building’s circulation systems and also building programs.

2.1.3 Active Design Elements & Strategies in Building Architecture.

Active design elements and strategy implementation creates opportunities into developing a health-inducing built environment and encourage physically active behaviour among its dwellers. Active design in architecture and its site context can influence a person’s physical activities and sedentary behaviour of a building inhabitant.

Active buildings are driven by the active design elements and strategies implemented onto the building environment, there are four key opportunities mentioned in the Active Design Guideline, that designers and planners should focus on in building and Active Building. First is the building’s circulation system design, elements like corridors, staircases, and ramps had the highest prevalence of footfall therefore requires good attention and careful planning in order to achieve the optimum level of physical activeness. Similar to the second key opportunity which is the individual building elements, through design and planning considerations, these elements can either promote or hinder physical activeness. Example, supporting programs or amenities like pantries and additional seating can further encourage physical activity, however with the overemphasis of mechanical transportation and poorly located amenities could actually hinder further movements.

Active design strategies like the arrangements and considerations of building programs is also a major key point in ensuring physical activeness. For instance, the

location of the regularly visited space inside a building like a cafeteria in an office tower could be the medium for the tower inhabitants to keep physically active by travelling back and forth from their workspace for lunch or snacks. Addition to that, the provision of space deliberately design for physical activities was also considered as one of the opportunities that designers and policy makers could take into consideration to achieve the physical activities.

2.2 Application of Active Design Strategies in Architecture

The implementation of active design strategies on building architecture and site context involves many considerations, it must adaptable enough to meet the target user motives & needs, space programs or activities, organization policies, etc. yet still maintains architectural values and sustainable surroundings.

Due to active design strategy in architecture is evidence-based, several precedent studies have been made to proof the strategy to be positively beneficial from all perspectives. Though the Active Building’s physical activity and sedentary habits results may vary due to variable building purposes, space programs and occupant’s characteristics, these factors piloted different strategies and the results were anticipated in imminent planning and designing an active design building.

2.2.1 Relationship Between Building and Site Design and Human Behaviour.

Regarding to the active design in architecture, there is a significant relationship between built environment and the human behaviour. It appears that building, site and the architectural elements design can influence an individual’s activeness and productivity level in which could result in the accumulative measurement of both active and sedentary behaviour per day Based on a research paper in the 2005 American Journal of Preventive Medicine suggest a framework to connect research and active design implementation strategies to create an active design building opportunity within the built environment (Zimring, Joseph, Nicoll, & Tsepas, 2005).

Zimring, Joseph, Nicoll, & Tsepas, (2005) inform that most Americans spend many hours indoors, and yet did not realize that buildings and site design have a significant impact on their daily physical activities. According to them, while there are some research suggesting that buildings that have supportive active design elements like appealing staircases or a central communal space will result in a more active indoor environment, however there is still inadequate amount of evidence to support that statement and yet the fundamental relationships between building design and human behaviour is intricate, this is due to the different scale level of building and site design in comparison to urban and infrastructure planning. Building’s site context and its indoor environment are much quicker and easier to alter and has a direct effect on the occupants, thus making it harder to measure the method and theory of the relationship as a result of often changes in circulation and programs.

2.2.2 Building Programs, Policy and Other Related Factors that Influences Physical Activity in Built Environment.

The internal environment of a building and its exterior design in response to the surrounding context is treated as constantly progressive and changeable at different rates in terms of program, layout and location. For instance, a telecommunication company decides to relocate the design and marketing team desks near to its IT department in order to speed up the process of developing the company’s latest UI/UX design. Decision making in layout and furnishing arrangements often changes depending on temporal strategies or the person in-charge of the space.

Buildings and site context design with specific purposes are intentionally designed to support different levels of physical activities, specified programs or to mould a certain behaviour and strengthen the culture of a targeted user. However, other than planned programs, varied behaviour coming from different individual, groups or organizations became a factor that influences physical activity in built environment (see Figure 4)

According to the research paper, data categorization and policy development of an organization, help produces the reasonable atmosphere designed to cater the needs of their own social context, feasibly when an office layout was organized according to the company’s policy and staffs’ needs. Thus, at this point it can be concluded that human behaviour shapes the environment.

https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S07493797%2804%2900305-8/pdf. Copyright 2005 by American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Nevertheless, as the occupants’ necessity or tend to use the building amenities to conduct their activities like ascending through a continuous ramp to reach an exhibition hall filled with art pieces (see Figure 5), therefore they are more highly affected by the existing built-in physical architectural elements like the staircases or entryways and likewise constrained by the basic shell form and structural systems of the building like load bearing walls and columns. To put it briefly, physical activities were affected by both interior and exterior of the building including its adjacent site context and landscape design

Figure 4. Social ecological model of influences on physical activity diagram Redrawn and adapted from “Influences of Building Design and Site Design on Physical Activity: Research and Intervention Opportunities”, by C. Zimring, A Joseph, G L. Nicoll, S. Tsepas, 2005,

Through FR-EE's Museo Soumaya”, by Y. Wegner, K. Rosenfield, 2014, Retrieved December 17, 2018, from https://www.archdaily.com/548366. Copyright Sept. 2014 by ArchDaily 2008-2018.

2.2.3 Types of Physical Activity Achieved Depending on Intended Spatial Programs and Individual’s Motive

.

Addition to the study, different building typologies with different purpose influences different behaviour due to the fact that a space with specific function or program supports different type of movement patterns and planning constraint. There are two building types mentioned, a ‘strong program’ building and a ‘weak program’ building. A strong program building is a building with a specific function of spaces that includes small range of activities and a strict pattern of movements within its planning. Therefore, strong program buildings are often associated with private properties or specialized building with space program tailored for a specific target user, as for example a hospital or a correctional facility. Publicly accessible buildings such as shopping centres, exhibition halls or institutional campus were categorized as the ‘weak program’ building (see Figure 6). The usage of spaces is more flexible and serves wider range of activities and has an unstructured movement pattern

Figure 5. Image of the interior design of the Museo Soumaya art gallery in Mexico City design by FR-EE Fernando Romero Enterprise. From “Video: Time-Lapse

The correlation between the type of a building program and active design can result to achieve different types of physical activities. Zimring, Joseph, Nicoll, & Tsepas, (2005) mentions that the physical activities intended to be achieve by an individual in a particular building or space can either be recreational, instrumental or a hybrid physical activity (see Figure 7).

Figure 6 Example of buildings with a ‘weak program’. Shopping centres have wider range of target users, activities and footfall pattern. Commercial space deliberately let its occupants to roam freely in order to increase foot traffic and sales Image by Author, April 2018.

Indoor physical activities with the intention of purposely conducting physical activity in order to improve one’s health or gain pleasure in a space specifically designed for physical activities or facilities like an indoor gym or a dance studio are measured as a recreational physical activity (see Figure 8). In the opposition to the recreational physical activity, instrumental physical activity is an activity gained through engaging in an activity due to work or a routine with no intention for recreation, in other words, an individual has no other option but to be physically active in order to complete a task, like going to school or working in a factory or a workshop. Nevertheless, regarding to the hybrid physical activity, this type of physical activity is very different than the previous two. According to the paper, a hybrid physical activity is resulted from a physical active decision made by an individual for various different reason; for example, an individual chose to walk through a wooded path with many obstacles ahead because of the distance is shorter than taking a smooth paved road. Alternative example is when a person deliberately took a longer route to their designated destination just because of its’ appealing landscape and more enjoyable to walk through is also considered as hybrid physical activity, this is similar to when a health-conscious individual chooses to make a healthier decision like taking the stairs

Figure 7. Relationship between types of building programs & physical activities achieved correlation chart. Redrawn and adapted from “Influences of Building Design and Site Design on Physical Activity: Research and Intervention Opportunities”, by Author.

instead of the elevator to burn more calories.

2.2.4 Varied Architectural Elements Design and Planning Strategies Effects on Human Physical Activity and Sedentary Habits

The topic then leads to a discussion about the design of building features and elements. The availability, convenience, desirability, safety, and comfort in designing individual building features were taken into account into planning such strategies that includes stairways position, corridor circulations, open-communal spaces provisions or correlation of the specific spaces programmed to encourage physical activities (see Figure 9). These architectural elements are the key influence in measuring physical activeness and sedentary behaviour through the occupants’ movements and foot traffic, therefore, these features could either form an opportunity or dissuade physical activeness of an individual.

Figure 8. A Celebrity Fitness outlet located in the One Utama Shopping Centre in Petaling Jaya. A commercial gym is the example of a recreational physical activity. Image by Author, November 2018.

The provision of additional amenities or supporting features, in which could encourage the occupants to make navigation choices while simultaneously increases the amount of footfall is considered as an advantage in generating physical activity throughout a building. For example, by having a circulation system anchored to a distinctive stairwell or main lobby, in which could also channel in natural light into the building core, have a higher chance to strengthens its own wayfinding system, and fosters the opportunities for a social engagement (see Figure 10).

Figure 9 A continuous slope of greeneries and water features located at the rooftop of the PKNS Headquarters in Shah Alam. A rooftop garden is an example of open communal space that could encourage physical activity and induce social engagements. Image by Author, November 2017

However, some supporting features like elevators or escalators have the opposite consequence and can be considered as deterring physical activeness, it can not only hinder physical activity, but can potentially nullify other active design elements designed to discourage sedentary habits (see Figure 11). For instance, a building with elevators located at the main atrium were likely to have a lower rate of foot traffic due to the highly visible and convenience usage of mechanical transportation. Likewise, a poorly planned building elements or circulation with a confusing wayfinding and badly lit spaces could equally causes the occupants to feel unwelcome thus discouraging visitation and footfall.

Figure 10. Series of escalators anchored to an atrium inside a shopping gallery in Shenzhen, China The atrium was topped with a skylight to introduce natural illuminance into the building. Image by Author, April 2018.

Architectural elements Generate Physical Activity

Characteristic

• Strategically planned layout

• Clear wayfinding

• Additional amenities/ supporting features (benches, WiFi spot, rooftop garden, public toilets etc.)

Implication

• Strengthens its own wayfinding system

• Ease occupants’ mobility & lengthens journey

• Fosters the opportunities for a social engagement

Hinder Physical Activity

• Poorly planned layout

• Confusing wayfinding

• Badly lit spaces

• Excessive or unnecessary placed mechanical transportation

• Unwelcoming, thus discouraging visitation and footfall.

• Potentially nullify other active design elements

Table 1. The table shows the characteristics of architectural elements and its effect on an individual’s physical activities. Table by Author, December 2018.

This research concludes that, different architectural elements and features provided in buildings will result in different types of human behaviour either active or sedentary. However, the viability and strategic planning of the active design elements in buildings plays a key role into inducing the occupant’s physical activeness and help reduce sedentary behaviour despite the dissimilarities of zoning program or activities intended per space.

Figure 11. Escalators is the most common mechanical transportation in which mainly use by retailers to provide convenience for their customers. Image by Author, December 2018.

2.2.5 Manipulative Factors Leading to Varied Architectural Elements Strategies Thus Effecting Physical Health and Perceptions on a Specific Purpose Group

(Engelen, Dhillon, Chau, Hespe, & Bauman, 2016) conducted an experiment on a number of employees in a university office in Sydney, Australia to study whether by inhabiting an office building that were designed specifically to encourage healthy habits and connectivity will change the workers’ physical activity and sedentary behaviour in their workplace. Also, whether by injecting active design features and strategies may change the workers’ workplace perceptions and productivity

Furthermore, the study settled that a workplace is a plausible location for an active design planning intervention since most working-class adults nowadays spend hours of their time in a sedentary working environment due to the technology advancement in which work has becoming less physical demanding. These working-class individuals were required to sit for hours at their desk, resulting to not be able to engage in an adequate amount of a normal adult’s daily minimum levels of physical activity in order to improve their physical health and well-being

Engelen, Dhillon, Chau, Hespe, & Bauman, (2016) investigation outcomes appears to have a positive feedback and a physical health-endorsing effects on the workers. The study was conducted by moving the workers away from their existing working environment to a new building with innovative furnishing and specifically strategic layout design together with physically active endorsing features that includes promoting stairs usage, exercising facilities and activeness inclusive programs Even if the strategies increase the workers’ physical health, and encourage their healthy decision making and habits, nevertheless workers’ perceptions about their new working environment varied

The method used to measure the results in this study is through building elements review and data tabulation plus the respondents’ reports collected and analyse using an online survey distributed. Through its methodology, the parameters were able to be established for other studies on active design architecture made on different building types or purpose. In addition, by manipulating the occupants’ age, gender and abled body type, imminent research could produce variable outcomes and encourage further

studies of the effect of architecture on physical health.

Hence, the architectural elements can be concluded as variable depending on different functions and building purposes, wherein resulting in a different level of physical activity and sedentary behaviour. However, concerning the occupants’ psychological perception towards active design features on their built environment is rather subjective and may vary in different studies thus the result achieved might not be very significant and hard to calculate in some physical-activity-related experiment.

2.2.6 Influence of Active Design on Occupants’ Movement Pattern and Breaking the Sedentary Habits in a Specific Building Program

(Brittin, Sorensen, Trowbridge et al., 2017) conducted a similar study and evaluates on a different building type and age group compare to the previous experiment. Their study is to evaluate whether a movement-promoting or active design strategies implemented to an elementary school architecture could affect the students’ sedentary behaviour and physical activity during school hours School children are like normal working-class adults, most spend substantial amount of time in school’s-built environment in which they were put in a sedentary behaviour and unable to achieve their daily minimum physical activity needed. According to Brittin, Sorensen, Trowbridge et al., (2017), up to 70% of school hours including physical education and recess has put students under an inactive activity This time frame suggests that the

Figure 12. Manipulative variables, architectural elements & physical activities correlation diagram. Adapted from “Do Active Design Buildings Change Behaviour & Workplace Perceptions?”, by Author.

institutional built environment has a significant impact on students’ daily sedentary behaviour and physical activities. Brittin, Sorensen, Trowbridge et al., (2017) focus on addressing child obesity and other related diseases that could have caused by physical inactivity of a child.

Their experiment strategy includes decreasing the daily sedentary habits during school hours and regular breaks in which they insert a transition of a higher intensity activity from the sedentary behaviour and increases physical activity. In their study, they move the students to a newly design elementary school in which the new school designs decisions were drew according to the Physical Activity Design Guidelines for School Architecture. However, a school has its own program that needed to be fulfilled, thus, in order to satisfy the program, classes were design to accommodate activity areas and promotes movements during in-class sessions. Furniture design were also taken into consideration to facilitate children’s expected behaviour and to hinder inactivity. The outcome of this study suggest implementation of active design in school architecture has significant influence on student’s daily physical activities and mitigates sedentary behaviour. The result documented a change in students’ pattern of movements after moving and adapting to the new school environment.

It has been found that buildings implementation of active design does encourage people’s physical activities and helps mitigates sedentary behaviour, the design

Figure 13 Effects of building program and its active design strategies correlation diagram. Adapted from “Impacts of active school design on school-time sedentary behaviour & physical activity: A pilot natural experiment”, by Author.

strategy in this study had similar positive health effects on the occupants and change of habits. Since, active design on physical activity and sedentary habits results varies in physical activity intensity levels and occupants’ perception, further studies were required for different building types and purpose groups to devise different strategies in planning and designing. Although, different programs and building purpose group requires different building elements and features, yet the viability and provision of active design elements in buildings plays a key role into encouraging the occupant’s movements and breaking the sedentary behaviour despite the program dissimilarities.

2.2.7 Existing Occupants’ Movement Analysis Initiating Changes on Future Active Design Elements Planning Strategies

There were multiple methods conducted in several studies, for example, in a ‘Harvard Business Review’ article on “Workspaces That Move People”, (Waber, Magnol, & Lindsay, 2014) study by collecting data through tabulating the movements of its occupants in an existing office environment using varied apparatuses like network analysis and sociometric badges. Capturing interactions, movements and locations of the occupants’ frequent whereabouts. The data were then analysed, later resulting in new planning strategies for the building indoor environments. The research also leads to better utilization of space and feasibility cost per square foot of the office due to better planning strategies as well as encouraging social interaction and productivity among employees.

In a 2008 precedent study released by the Obesity Journal website, a number of school children were each given to wear a physical activity monitoring device and were divided into three different school environments, a traditional classroom that discourage physical activity, an activity-permissive classroom and a standing classroom in which the classes were facilitate with adjustable table height, anti-fatigue flooring and stability balls for seating The study also compares the physical activity level achieved among students during the school holidays were significantly higher than during the normal school period. The results were then tabulated consequently generating simple charts presenting the physical activity rate achieved against the different classroom settings. With this method, (Lanningham-foster et al., 2008) was able to rule out the most suitable classroom environment that could encourage

physical activity without disrupting the students’ learning process in addition to assist the imminent strategic planning with the aim of students are able reach their optimum physical activity level needed per day during school hours

Through these series of predecessor studies conducted in analysing the occupants’ movement patterns in building, existing planning design then can be restructured into better environments that encourage physical activeness and break the present sedentary behaviour caused by spatial and architectural elements planning

Figure 14. Future planning through analysing existing program diagram. Adapted from “Workspaces That Move People”, by Author.

CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

This chapter explained about the methodology and focusing on the qualitative method in finding data to support the reviewed literatures conducted for the study. It is divided into two-part main parts. The first part described about the selected building’s location and its relevance for the conducted study. The second part described about the method data was collected and is divided into two sections: - active design strategies observations, and physical activity tracking.

The methods applied are about reviewing the implementation of active design strategies on the selected case studies architecture with different building programs and tabulating the effect on the building occupant’s physical activeness

3.2 Case Study

Two (2) in totals of buildings have been analysed as case studies for this research chapter. Each of the building chosen has different building purposes with different typologies, program schedules and environment.

The studied buildings are:

i. Fakulti Seni Bina & Perancangan Ukur (FSPU), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Puncak Alam campus, Selangor.

ii. IKEA Damansara, Mutiara Damansara, 47800, Petaling Jaya, Selangor

To properly carry out this study, the two buildings were deliberately chosen to get an analytical result for verifying the provision of existing active design strategies and its architectural elements of physical active design features (layout design, staircases, amenities, wayfinding, furniture, etc.) in which could impact the occupants’ physical activities.

The justification of choosing the two building because each building represents the institutional and commercial buildings respectively. Both typologies were chosen as

both have a relatively high daily rate of occupancy and footfall, due to its publicly accessible and flexible building programs, therefore both typology of building is highly appropriate to measure physical activeness a building could provide for its occupants at a population level. In contrast, each building provides different type of physical activities as elaborated in the literature reviews. Analytical findings and reviews will be further elaborate in Chapter 4.

During the case study, the buildings were examined with several criteria that are tabulated for easier cross check. Photographs and on-site information are also gathered during the study. To gather an individual physical activity data, a selected respondent was given a fitness monitoring device to track the respondent’s daily activities, this test was conducted on one out of three case studies. The fitness tracker will provide a tabulated data on steps count, calories burned and general physical health graph of the respondent.

3.3 Data Collection

Data collection was through observational chart that described the existence of active design elements and the layout planning in the buildings including its site context. With considerations, a physical activity data was tabulated to define the effects of the active design elements on the selected respondents’ physical activity through step count and calorific output.

3.3.1 Observations

Preliminary information is gathered to from each building to determine the prevalence of physical activities happening within the chosen building environment. In this study, observation is used as one of the instruments in gathering information and data in determining the existing active design elements that brings the effect of physical activeness to its occupants. Addition to that, the observation focused on several considerations of the elements of active design strategies and features of the chosen case study.

3.3.2 Tracking & tabulating

The active design elements and strategies observed were supported through physical activity tracking and data tabulation.

Two respondents were selected to assist with the data collecting, each of the respondent were given a fitness tracking device and were required to wear the wearables during the test. To ensure consistent reading, both respondents were chosen from the same age group and were put under a consistent 1200-calorie diet. The respondents’ age, initial weight, etc. were taken into consideration. By using a fitness app by Fitbit, Inc. each the respondent’s recommended daily steps were able to be calculated and were set as the point of refence for this study.

The selected respondents’ data for this study are as follows:

Each respondent was given the opportunity to move about and the freedom to choose their own path and architectural design features to reach the same particular destination or space program set within the selected case study. The test results were tabulated in a table manner as follows:

1

Distance taken to reach destination (km) Step count (steps)

2

Table 2. The table shows the detail data of the selected respondents. Table by Author, December 2018.

Calorie output (kcal)

Table 3. The table example to showcase the findings and result. Table by Author, December 2018.

Through this experiment, this study could determine the level of physical activity and the effect of active design elements on occupants’ general health that is currently existed and provided throughout the selected buildings. Analytical reviews were then made in Chapter 4 along with the findings.

3.4 Conclusion

Research methodology for this paper was chosen according to the suitability on what the study intent to achieve as stated in the aim and objectives of this paper. The reviewing method were inspired and guided by the literature reviews conducted in Chapter 2

The applied strategies observed will result in different physical activities depending on the building purpose, target users, location and by what method was the strategy applied to the building, either through architectural elements, spatial layout, etc. The parameters from the literature reviews are heavily interrelated with the methodology of data collecting, further alleviate the identification of a quality and efficiency of active design strategy for the forthcoming local architecture. The data gathered are presented into a graphically compact information through a descriptive series of photo evidence taken during the site visit and a fitness monitoring device in which the data were translated into a table and a graph analysis.