POE of public higher education facilities in Saudi Arabia: lessons learned from three case studies

Purpose: This paper provides an exemplary systematic conduct of post‐occupancy evaluation (POE) on higher education facilities in Saudi Arabia. Design/methodology/approach: The research study utilized several qualitative and quantitative POE techniques which were systematically comprising (1) scoping and reviewing the facilities-related documents, (2) identification of performance indicators through the review of literature, (3) development and collection of questionnaire survey responses from stakeholders, (4) collection of physical measurements and (5) assessing the facilities by walk-throughs. Then, the data were analyzed and the findings were reported to representative samples of users through focus group meetings. Then, recommendations were drawn for improving the occupational conditions of the case study facilities. Findings: The synthesis of literature led to three main categories of performance elements that are relevant for higher education facilities. These include technical, functional and behavioral elements, in which each of the elements has specific performance indicators, 97 in total. The research study exemplifies a systematic conduct of POE. The stakeholders' perspectives on the performance elements through surveys, measurements and walk-throughs were collected. The assessment led to recommendations toward satisfactory and quality occupation of the case study facilities. Originality/value: This research aims to standardize POE by introducing its methods as a tool for evaluating higher education facilities and by elaborating the most prominent performance indicators for ensuring higher education core functions, namely, teaching, research and community collaboration.