THE IMPACT OF SPATIAL FACTORS ON STUDENTS’ PERCEIVED RESTORATION IN CAMPUS TRANSITIONAL SPACES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21837/pm.v24i43.2089Keywords:
Campus transitional spaces, Spatial factors, Perceived restoration, Student preferencesAbstract
University academic buildings contain extensive transitional spaces such as corridors, entrance halls, and terraces that students use daily between classes. However, how the spatial conditions of these everyday environments are associated with students’ perceived restoration remains insufficiently understood. Drawing on Attention Restoration Theory (ART), this study develops and tests a conceptual model linking spatial factors, student preferences, and perceived restoration in academic building transitional spaces. A questionnaire survey was conducted among undergraduate students at Hunan University of Science and Engineering (HUSE), a comprehensive public university in Hunan Province, China, capturing their evaluations of key spatial conditions and activity-related preferences across different transitional space types. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to examine the proposed direct and indirect associations. The results indicate that supportive spatial conditions are positively associated with students’ perceived restoration, with this relationship partially mediated by preferences for using transitional spaces for informal learning and social interaction. Spatial attributes related to legibility and accessibility, short-stay usability (including layout and furniture), and basic study-support facilities emerge as particularly important. This study extends ART to routine academic building contexts and offers design implications for supporting students’ everyday restorative experiences.
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