It is now widely recognized that the physical environment has an impact on the physiology, psychology, and sociology of those who experience it. When designing a critical care unit, the demands on the architect or designer working together with the interdisciplinary team of clinicians are highly specialized. Good design can have a hugely positive impact in terms of the recovery of patients and their hospital experience as a whole. Good design can also contribute to productivity and quality of the work experience for the staff. Design for Critical Care presents a thorough and insightful guide to the very best practice in intensive care design, focusing on design that has been successful and benefi cial to both hospital staff and hospital patients. By making the connection between research evidence and design practice, Hamilton and McCuskey Shepley present an holistic approach that outlines the future for successful design for critical care settings.

It is now widely recognized that the physical environment has an impact on the physiology,
psychology, and sociology of those who experience it. When designing a critical care unit,
the demands on the architect or designer working together with the interdisciplinary team
of clinicians are highly specialized. Good design can have a hugely positive impact in terms
of the recovery of patients and their hospital experience as a whole. Good design can also
contribute to productivity and quality of the work experience for the staff.

'Design for Critical Care' presents a thorough and insightful guide to the very best practice
in intensive care design, focusing on design that has been successful and benefi cial to both
hospital staff and hospital patients. By making the connection between research evidence and
design practice, Hamilton and Shepley present an holistic approach that outlines the future for
successful design for critical care settings.

Evidence-based design, which bases design decisions on the best available current research evidence, is gaining traction among architects. Expanding the field from its origins in healthcare to other building types such as education, criminal justice, commercial, industrial, and places of worship, this book introduces design professionals to the concept of evidence-based design and its use in the creation of high performance environments. It focuses on the methods by which design professionals and their clients can create better buildings by critically interpreting the implications of credible research and careful observation of completed projects. Drawing a direct link between evidence and application, the authors provide examples of credible research that supports evidence-based design are presented, as well as specific applications and case study examples.