Impact of the socio-environmental quality of the courtyard house on occupant satisfaction: The case of M'chouneche oasis, Algeria

In the old traditional houses, the inner central courtyard was the focal point of the house. Most of the rooms, if not all of them, are directly connected to the courtyard. Privacy is the watchword for the courtyard as expressed by maximizing interior relationships and openness, while excluding the exterior. In addition to its socio-cultural role as family gathering spaces, the courtyard provides daylight from the shade, airflow and thermal comfort inside the rooms of the house, factors that help to create more or less comfortable living conditions during the day and sleeping conditions at night. The main objective of this research is to investigate the impact of the courtyard's socio-environment quality on the degree of the occupant satisfaction as well as on their perceptual behaviour in traditional houses with central courtyards in the oasis of M'chouneche. The survey has been used as a method for data collection. A questionnaire was the tool addressed by the researcher in a face-to-face mode with 18 householders. These latter lived in these traditional houses. The analysis of the collected data was undertaken by using STATISTICA software and mainly based on descriptive and inferential statistics. The results illustrate the influence of the socio-cultural and organizational role that the courtyard plays on the level of user satisfaction. As conclusion, M'chouneche traditional courtyard houses were designed founded on a considerable interest to climatic requirements in their socio-cultural context, in order to provide both physical and psychological comforts for residents.