Architects rely on conceptual models of users during the design process, but if these models are inadequate the buildings may fail to meet user needs. User research, carried out by architects themselves or by specialist researchers, can improve architects' understanding of user needs. The dissemination of specialists' research findings to practising architects is crucial. Examples of user research on five topics are summarised.

This paper reviews the relationship between architectural intent and constructional realisation in the work of the Edinburgh practice Richard Murphy Architects. It focuses on a small built project in Edinburgh, the conversion of a building in Royal Terrace Mews.

Outside Sweden, Jan Gezelius is perhaps best known for three museums: the little migratory birds museum at Öland, 1961; the ethnographic museum at Stockholm, 1972–78; and the archaeological museum at Eketorp, 1977–82. Here he talks about his houses and his architectural ideals. This paper is a translated and edited version of part of an interview in Jan Gezelius edited by Claes Caldenby and Åsa Walldén and published by Arkitektur Förlag/Arkus in 1989.

The first part of this essay analyses in detail key aspects of The Hill House, in order to reveal the organising aesthetic principle that governs it. It would seem that a simple yet infinitely complex system of proportional measure binds a few natural and geometric symbols into a complex whole of profound poetic significance. The second part outlines the possible implications of this discovery for the interpretation and history of the house as an individual work of art, as well as of Mackintosh's oeuvre as a whole. These will be the subject of future research.

This paper considers the relationship between atrium design and different climatic conditions in Europe. The analyses may be used to inform design proposals for buildings which seek to optimise the thermal buffering characteristics of atria. Particular attention is given to certain parameters witl a potential to form climatic responsive and energy efficient atrium buildings.

This paper describes the structural principles of cantilevered staircases. A brief history is given of stone staircases built in England, and a number of particularly interesting examples are discussed in detail. Four new staircases, built during the last decade, are described, demonstrating the relevance of these long established principles to contemporary construction.