ABSTRACT
This section describes the way in which research findings can be integrated into design decision processes. There is the need for a new approach that can engage the architect and the client-user group in a process that links children's developmental needs to facility requirements. Strategies are described that engage parents, teachers, and administrators in collaboration with the architect during the initial stages of design. This process has produced teachers with new capabilities in playroom planning and organization, as well as with an understanding of the way in which architects make decisions. Integral to the process, is the concept of the nonpaying client. For programming purposes, people who use the building are the clients of the architect, whether or not they pay for services. Reference to the user as the nonpaying client, then, attaches greater significance to the importance of user contributions, and to a nontraditional relationship between the paying and nonpaying client.
