ZEMCH 2015 - International Conference Proceedings | Page 497

Figure 4. Example of common personalisation strategies found in different households
When asked to describe the most significant modification to their dwellings (n=42), 51.8% of
the respondents mentioned finishing works and detailing for either aesthetic (57.1%) or comfort
(42.9%) purposes. Then, 18.5% of the interviewees mentioned extension works after either functional (60.2%) or comfort (20.4%) problems, whilst the rest mentioned lack of space as their main
motivation. 11.1% of the respondents mentioned changes to internal partitions after either functional (66.7%) or comfort (33.3%) problems, and then external works such as fences, pavements
and roofs (3.7%) all for functional purposes. Interestingly, regardless of their significant share in
the total, none of the participants mentioned either kitchen furniture nor built in closets.
With regards to the end use given to extensions or modifications to the layouts through altering
or addition of internal partitions, 18.3% of the total declared building them to increase the size
of the kitchen, 14.7% as simple extensions for common areas, and only 6.0% for a new bedroom.
The mean surface area of the external extensions in houses was 22.06 m2 with a minimum of 10.0
m2 and maximum of 65.5 m2. 31.2% of the extensions and layout modifications were built using
timber framing, while 3.7% with masonry and only 1.8% with scrap materials.
The main materials used for finishing works are summarized in Table 4. The most common materials for dry zones were paint with primer for walls and ceilin gs, ceramics for living rooms, and
carpet for bedrooms. In wet zones, most of the floors and bathrooms walls were finished using
ceramic tiling, while most of the ceilings and kitchen walls were not finished. Significantly, close
to one third of the walls and ceilings of bedrooms and kitchens, and halve of the bathrooms ceilings were untouched at the moment of the survey.

Personalisation strategies and residential satisfaction in chilean social housing

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