Stair climbing and house spatial layout: a cross-sectional, exploratory study in Greater Jakarta area

This exploratory study investigated the role of the house environment in supporting a more active lifestyle. In particular, this study explored the relationship between the house’s spatial layout and the use of stairs. A quantitative approach was used by distributing questionnaires to the residents of multi-storey houses in the Greater Jakarta area to identify the spatial organisation of their houses and their daily stair uses. An ordinal logistic regression analysis was conducted to explore the relationship between the frequency of stair use and the vertical positioning of the bedrooms and areas for main activity living. The model suggests that the vertical distribution of spaces contributes to the active use of stairs. Further data analysis also reveals the three categories of triggers for ascending the stairs at home: to return to the bedroom as the homebase, to do necessary activities (i.e., collect things and do the laundry) and to do optional activities (i.e., go to another bedroom and a hobby or recreation space). On the other hand, the triggers for descending the stairs are the functions commonly performed on the ground floor: to dine, go to the living room, and leave the house. The findings of this exploratory study suggest that the approach in house design could reconsider the possibility of providing a layout design that is not necessarily efficient and compact by distributing the functional spaces to different levels of the house to trigger more active use of stairs.