Definition of Evidence-Based Design

Evidence-Based Design is the process of basing decisions about the built environment on credible research to achieve the best possible outcomes.

Evidence-based health-care architecture creates safe and therapeutic environments for patient care and encourages family involvement. It promotes efficient staff performance and is restorative for workers under stress. These designs ultimately should improve the organization’s clinical, economic, productivity, satisfaction, and cultural measures.

An evidence-based designer makes decisions–with an informed client–based on the best available information from credible research and evaluations of projects. Critical thinking is required to draw rational inferences about design from information that seldom fits a unique situation precisely.

From "Four Levels of Evidence-Based Practice," by CHD Board Member D. Kirk Hamilton, FAIA, FACHA, The AIA Journal of Architecture, November 2006.

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