Universal Design and Wayfinding in Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science Buildings: A Case Study of Bingham University, Nigeria.

Navigating a Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science Buildings matters. Students and staff need to find offices, laboratories, lecture spaces, offices and specialised facilities safely and independently. This study examines Universal Design principles and their relationship with spatial legibility and wayfinding in pharmaceutical faculty buildings, using Bingham University, Karu, Nigeria, as the case study. A mixed-methods approach combined a questionnaire survey of 187 students and staff with a comparative assessment of five pharmaceutical or health-science faculty buildings, comprising three international and two Nigerian cases, evaluated from published documentation and site imagery and site visits. Survey findings show that users rated Universal Design and wayfinding features, such as clear signage, accessible routes and visible landmarks, highly important, with all eight items exceeding a mean of 4.38, while current performance on related aspects of the existing building was considerably lower, particularly for first-time visitor navigation (M=2.50) and accessibility for persons with disabilities (M=2.54). Only 30% of respondents considered the existing environment inclusive for all users. Case comparisons indicate that spatial clarity, visible circulation, multi-sensory information and accessible routes support more independent navigation. The study concludes that wayfinding effectiveness depends on the combined performance of spatial organisation, environmental cues and accessibility provisions rather than signage alone. It recommends integrating Universal Design principles into pharmaceutical faculty planning and operation to improve legibility, accessibility and navigational efficiency in Nigerian universities