KIRK HAMILTON
Is a Professor of Architecture at Texas A&M University where he teaches healthcare design
at the graduate level. His academic research is about the relationship of evidence-based
health facility design to measurable organizational performance. Hamilton is a widely
recognized advocate who promotes research informed design for health environments. He is
currently completing a PhD in Nursing & Healthcare Innovation at Arizona State University,
studying nurse movement patterns and interaction with objects in the ICU patient room.
Hamilton is board certified by the American College of Healthcare Architects with 30 years of
active practice prior to joining Texas A&M. He is a founding principal emeritus of WHR
Architects with healthcare projects in 20 states and eight other countries, and has received
the Lifetime Achievement Award from ACHA.
He is co-editor of the peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary HERD Journal. His most recent books
include Rigor & Research-Informed Design: A Decade’s Advocacy (2013), Design for Critical
Care: An Evidence-Based Approach with co-author Mardelle Shepley (2010), and EvidenceBased Design for Multiple Building Types with co-author David Watkins (2009). “Design of
Operating Theatres for Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery,” authored with Bill Rostenberg,
appears in Alston, Myles & Ranucci’s, Cardiac Anaesthesia from Oxford University Press
(2015).
ABSTRACT |HEALTHCARE DESIGN INFORMED BY RESEARCH AND IMPROVED OUTCOMES
Design for most hospital and healthcare projects is complex and costly. There is
an imperative to make the best design decisions possible by relying upon the
best available credible evidence from research and practice.
An evidence-based design process can be seen as analogous to evidence-based
medicine, making decisions based on the best available scientific findings for
each unique patient or design project. While the majority of project decisions are
made on the basis of past experience and consensus best practice, architects can
seek answers to a small number of important questions through interpretation
of serious research. Fortunately, the process for incorporating research into
design practice is not revolutionary and can be accomplished with a few
additional steps to conventional practice models.
We know that the physical environment influences the physiology, psychology,
and social behaviors of those who experience it. Design interventions can
influence a variety of outcomes for healthcare institutions, ranging from building
performance and the organization’s operational cost to patient safety and clinical
outcomes. If there is relevant information that can contribute to improved
patient outcomes, it would seem that there is a moral responsibility to utilize it
to improve the design on behalf of the public good.
Finally, research oriented practitioners should make a commitment to measure
the results associated with their designs. Data that could be made available by
the study of multiple projects has the potential to improve design performance
of the entire field.