Passive Cooling and Biophilic Strategies for Thermal Comfort in Tropical Savanna Tourism Architecture: A Lokoja Prototype

Tourism facilities in tropical savanna environments often experience thermal discomfort and high cooling demand because of inappropriate responses to climate. This study investigates passive cooling and biophilic strategies for improving thermal comfort and visitor experience in tourism architecture in Lokoja, Nigeria. A mixed-methods approach combined environmental monitoring, thermal comfort questionnaires involving 120 respondents, direct observation and case study assessment. Three existing tourism facilities were examined and their performance compared with a proposed climate-responsive prototype. Field results showed substantial thermal discomfort, with comfort exceedance rates of 73.2–84.1% and mean visitor dwell times of 17.8–44.3 minutes across the assessed facilities. The proposed prototype incorporated an insulated ventilated roof, deep external shading, a narrow cross-ventilated plan, low-solar-heat-gain glazing, laterite thermal mass and biophilic landscape interventions. Comparative performance assessment indicated a reduction in cooling energy intensity from 218.4 to 31.7 kWh/m²/year and an increase in annual adaptive comfort hours from 16.2% to 83.7%. Visitor responses further identified sense of place, water features and natural materials as important contributors to satisfaction. The findings demonstrate that integrating passive cooling and context-responsive biophilic strategies can substantially improve thermal performance and visitor experience in tropical savanna tourism facilities.