Study of Landscape Gardens: Expectations and Users’ Perceptions of a High-Rise Office Building

Amidst today's energy-economic crisis, the introduction of green spaces in a high-rise building is one way of reducing building's cooling load, which at present relies mainly on air conditioning. This paper evaluates users’ perceptions and expectations in three different landscape gardens on a 21-storey high-rise office building in Penang, Malaysia. The questionnaire focuses on comfort level, landscape preferences as well as expectations and use of space. The low usage factor was attributed to the unawareness of the gardens’ existence, low accessibility and users’ preference of staying indoors. The three gardens are significantly different in its overall comfort level, thermal comfort parameters, attractions and number of visits.