Beyond Wayfinding: Designing for Sensory Impact and Architectural Delight for the Visually Impaired

This study is aimed at investigating the gap in Nigeria’s public buildings which tends to focus more on physical accessibility, overlooking other visual signage and multisensory approaches in building designs that could improve orientation, comfort and appreciation of visually impaired users. Accessibility is basic compliance and oversight of sensory-inclusive design elements and features like tactile flooring, acoustic cues, olfactory markers and cues, and contrast materials. There is also the issue of absence multisensory design strategies. The study sought to assess how these sensory design elements affect orientation and the emotional response of visually impaired users in Nigerian public buildings as well as to design a framework for sensory-inclusive design that moves away from solely proving wayfinding to include joy and dignity. A qualitative case study design was used. The study population was visually impaired adults in Calabar who frequently access public services. Participants (n=30) were purposively sampled via local disabling associations and via semi-structured interviews and direct observation were collected from the study participants in a government office complex and the department of special education in public university. Results indicated that tactile flooring and contrast materials substantially enhanced users' comfort and orientation, whereas the effects of acoustic cues were limited and olfactory cues were mostly absent. The study concludes that current design practices in Nigeria remain partial and do not yet achieve delight. It recommends the systematic integration of tactile and material contrasts and the inclusion of acoustic and olfactory features in building codes.