Design factors' influence on value creation when building Houses of Culture

Public clients have an interest in understaning how a public building can be developed into a successful landmark and perhaps also an iconic building. An explorative case study has been undertaken, studying strategic briefing processes when building ‘houses of culture', i.e. public buildings with a cultural content. Within the case study, a survey of end-users has been conducted, with the aim of exploring design factors' influence on end-users' evaluation of a house of culture. The survey was responded to by 452 people visiting a house of culture. A questionnaire was handed out randomly on seven different occasions when different cultural activities in the building were performed. A factor analysis was conducted resulting in four design factors describing end-user evaluation of a house of culture: (1 technical design (2) multifunctional design regarding spaces for experiences (3) multifunctional design regarding spaces for consumption (4) experience of activities. Multiple hierarchical regression analyses revealed that technical and multifunctional design factors have an impact on endusers' experience of the activity. However, the relation between design factors and visiting frequency is slight and almost negligible. The visiting frequency is thus not a useful measure of describing how a public building attracts its visitors. More interesting is the number of visitors coming to building. These different types of design factors contribute to the understanding of how clients and construction professionals can develop public buildings for cultural activities creating landmarks in small cities.Godkänd; 2010; 20101129 (krilau)Samhällsnyttan av att bygga kulturhus/Value Creation in Cultural Constructio