A Sense Of Home 

The urban landscape of Yangon features a mixture of colonial shophouse buildings, a few new condominium developments and numerous walk-up apartments. The walk-up apartment , introduced post-1950s, now make up majority of the city's apartment buildings, primarily serving low- to mid-income residents due to their social economic constraints and growing population. However, over the years, these domestic apartments have seen little evolution or development in terms of spatial experience, design and functionality to accommodate modern living as “Home”. Previous research highlighted poor ventilation, inadequate daylight, limited interior space and the need to improve holistically  in the walk-up apartments.

Therefore, this study aimed to understand core attributes of the perception of space to improve “A sense of home”, which are vital for everyday life. Online semi-structured interviews and layout plan survey (by local architects)  of 15 apartment residents, and online questionnaire of 70 apartment residents were conducted and analyzed using mixed-method approach. The literature review developed “A sense of home” frameworks for understanding the perceptions. The findings highlighted existing issues and prioritized key factors—privacy, security, comfort, belonging, and ownership—that enhance the sense of home. Privacy and ownership emerged as the most significant issues, necessitating flexible, semi-private, diverse innovative approach and community driven participatory solutions to address them. The study provided recommendations for future renovating and improvements to enhance the quality of life for apartment dwellers in the derivative framework of Home.

Research objective
01/Perception of sense of home in walk-up apartment
02/ Recommendations for creating better sense of home

Research question
1/What are the attributes of a sense of home for walk-up apartment ?
2/What is the current perception of the sense of home in the existing walk-up apartment ?
3/What are the recommendations for creating a better sense of home in the walk-up apartment ?

This project mainly focuses on the research, however  mock-up experimentation is designed using research home framework