Procedures and standards for the sizing of university buildings

The definition of procedures and standards that can be used for the sizing of university buildings is an issue that finds few references in the context of scientific studies. There is currently no unambiguous definition of the parameters for quantifying the needs and standards for university buildings. In terms of strategic control in universities, it is fundamental to monitor the aspects related to procedures and standards that are functional to spatial definitions. The research addressing the University of Foggia’s Strategic Building Development Plan provided an opportunity to apply a method with the goal of defining procedures for quantifying spatial needs in university buildings and contributing to research in the field. The research method is based on an initial classification of spaces into functional areas, then, the determination of total and partial dimensional standards based on two approaches (inductive and deductive) and referred to functional areas. Finally, a procedure was set up to compare the current state of the building stock with previously determined standards and to calculate the related needs. The determination of the dimensional requirements is based on the number of users in the time forecast considered, to the extent that they are useful for strategic planning purposes, and on the user profile of the structures. The result is represented by this determination and enables the reporting of overall needs by functional macro-area, starting from the demand register and ending with the supply survey.