A post-occupancy evaluation (POE) of the Cairns Community Living Initiative has been undertaken. A post-occupancy evaluation is an established research method that involves the evaluation of buildings in a systematic way. As an assessment method, a post-occupancy evaluation provides a means of understanding the consequences of design decisions against the building’s performance in terms of user needs. The study evaluated the physical and socio-cultural performance of the model on tenants’ social and emotional wellbeing, including connection to country; culture; spirituality; ancestry; family and community.
The POE findings indicated that the housing model enhanced tenant social and emotional wellbeing and that the overarching intent of the design was achieved, but ongoing success was dependent on multiple factors. We look forward to seeing the findings of the post-occupancy evaluation published soon.