Assessment of primary Health Care Facilities in Kosovo using Space Syntax Analysis

The design of our built environment affects our health and well-being and can have a long-term implication for quality of life. The quality of architecture and design can play a fundamental role in positively or negatively affecting patients, family members and operators generating feelings and perceptions of safety, comfort, privacy and psychological well-being . Primary health care facilities in Kosovo which recently underwent renovation are comparable to the average of other European countries regarding the size and the structure , but still far from reaching highest standards with regards to well-developed primary care systems in the world. This study aims to investigate four different floor plan typologies of Main Family Medicine Centres (MFMC) In Kosovo after they have been renovated, based on space syntax analysis complemented by direct observations and questionnaires, concerning the humanization of primary healthcare facilities with regard to user’s needs, including the criteria of accessibility, wayfinding, privacy, visibility, proximity, safety and environmental comfort. Space syntax analyses and complementary method of Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) applied in this study, helped to understand weaknesses and spatial potentialities offered by a certain type of layout.