黑洞社区

How can evidence-based design (EBD) be delivered effectively? It鈥檚 a matter of having the right tools to gather evidence in the first place.

Post-occupancy evaluation (POE) is the process where much of the evidence should be gathered, allowing the learning of lessons from previous designs.

At present some innovative firms seem to really be engaging in this process, according to Kerstin Sailer, director of research and innovation at design consultant Spacelab, and a lecturer at the Bartlett School of Architecture. Sailer was a member of 黑洞社区鈥檚 panel which recently gathered to debate EBD at an event to launch the online resource Evidence Space ().

There are various tools available to help with POE, but no industry-wide standard, which may be hindering its wider adoption. The RIBA Plan of Work identifies POE as part of the 鈥淚n Use鈥� stage, to be carried out as part of the handover strategy, but as Sailer says, 鈥渋t is not clear who should pay for it鈥�.

The other point Sailer and other members of the panel make is that, while evaluation of a building鈥檚 technical performance is important in the POE, there could be more focus on behaviour and company culture.

Monica Parker, founder of Hatch, a behavioural analytics consultancy, noted in last month鈥檚 debate: 鈥淒esign means nothing if we cannot get to grips with the humans using that space.鈥�

So what are the opportunities to improve the current POE process, and thus encourage wider adoption?

Before any design work starts, get staff to fill out a 20-minute survey on what matters most to them in the workplace

Kerstin Sailer, Spacelab

Sailer says that POE, often a 鈥渂ox-ticking exercise鈥�, is more effective with a pre-design evaluation, which provides data to benchmark against once the building is completed.

鈥淭he RIBA Plan of Work does allow for this during the 鈥楶reparation and Brief鈥� stage, and at Spacelab, we do try to follow this rigorously,鈥� Sailer says. 鈥淗owever, there is still the issue of getting the client to pay for it, and also they don鈥檛 often agree to the POE stage - even when we鈥檝e offered it to them no extra cost.鈥�

Sailer feels that one solution to this reluctance is to make the evaluation process more 鈥渓ight touch鈥�.

鈥淎t present, there is the feeling that POE is one big intervention into a client鈥檚 business - two interventions if you carry out a pre-design evaluation - which they don鈥檛 want to do,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o can we make it more proceduralised?

鈥淏efore any design work starts, get staff to fill out a 20-minute survey on what matters most to them in the workplace. Answers could be: an open-plan layout, more access to coffee, a shorter commute, lots of plants, and so on. Then by using a ranking system, you establish which factors are most important.鈥�

That information, says Sailer, can help the design process and be used at POE stage to assess whether the design has been effective.

Parker agrees with Sailer on the importance of a pre-design evaluation, saying, 鈥淭hat is the only way POE is effective.鈥�

However, she questions whether existing POE tools look at company behaviour enough. Parker says: 鈥淏ehavioural scientists work with with clients and translate their behavioural analysis into designs with architect partners.鈥�

Predictive behavioural algorithms are used, which are created following extensive data collection before design work starts. The firm鈥檚 survey tool collects data on a company鈥檚 technology, space, furnishings and other facilities requirements, but more importantly, cultural and behavioural issues such as work-life balance, autonomy, hierarchy and employee wellbeing. This is supplemented by Phido, a photo tool which it has developed to help illustrate the interaction between space and culture.

Parker cannot stress enough the importance of a company鈥檚 culture: 鈥淥ften, companies will want to bring in an open plan office, but then the feedback we get from employees is that they would see that as a mechanism for their bosses to keep an eye on them,鈥� she says.

鈥淸The firm] might want to put in a 鈥楪oogle Slide鈥� or some other breakout feature, but more than 70% of our respondents worry about appearing to be 鈥榮kiving鈥� if they鈥檙e not at their desks.鈥�

It is also important to address companies鈥� future needs. 鈥淎 common failure is not enough 鈥榝uture casting鈥� when an organisation prepares to move to a new building,鈥� Parker says. 鈥淪o they don鈥檛 future proof for how the workspace should be in 10 years鈥� time. You get offices that become very stale very quickly.鈥�

The end-game is how the post-occupancy data compares to the pre-design evaluation, though as a relatively young company, Parker says her clients are just reaching POE. She says the measurement metrics Hatch uses at this stage reflect the firms鈥� aspirations at the outset.

鈥淢ost businesses want more collaboration,鈥� she says. 鈥淔lexible working is a fast-growing trend, so staff need greater autonomy. Another metric is resilience - does the workplace equip people better to survive the slings and arrows of everyday life?鈥�

The sector that has led the way - and continues to - in EBD and POE is healthcare. Richard Mazuch is an architect and director of design research and innovation with IBI Group. He was also another member of the panel at the Evidence Space EBD discussion event. As founder of IBI THINK, the practice鈥檚 thought leadership group, he has developed a healthcare POE template which includes key performance indicators that projects can be measured against.

鈥淲e also collate evidence-based research on thousands of hospitals around the world and harness that for the POE template,鈥� Mazuch adds. 鈥淚t is not just our own evidence we use for design.鈥�

They don鈥檛 future proof for how the workspace should be in 10 years鈥� time. You get offices that become very stale very quickly

Monica Parker, HATCH

One of his success stories is the Barn Theatre design for the Broadgreen and Wrightington hospitals. Mazuch was also responsible for the Cruciform Ward design, first introduced to Guernsey Hospital, which uses the same area as conventional ward designs but, because of the bed layout, the distance between patients鈥� heads is increased leading to reduction in infection. 鈥淚t is now in the NHS design guide and Procure21+ best practice,鈥� he says.

However, there may be one important reason why healthcare design has blazed a trail in collating and using evidence for design. 鈥淚t鈥檚 more of an exact science,鈥� says Sailer. 鈥淭here are known truths in the healthcare design field.

鈥淏ut it is different with offices,鈥� she says. 鈥淧eople will not miraculously collaborate more in an open plan office - because every organisation has its own unique behavioural culture. And where every case is unique, you can鈥檛 take learning from one to another.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I steer away from using the term 鈥榖est practice鈥�, as there鈥檚 no one answer. There鈥檚 no ideal workplace. But a procedural approach enables you to collect data that can help deliver a well-designed workplace.鈥�

The problem is, according to Parker, the mechanisms for data collection are wrong. 鈥淧eople who deploy a POE are often the wrong people - they think in terms of cost per ft², energy per ft², and so on,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hereas the data you need is behavioural. But that won鈥檛 come without a broader acceptance of social science.鈥�

Mazuch would like POE to be included as 鈥渁 statutory item in the contract鈥� rather than a 鈥渘ice to have鈥�.

鈥淚t has to be taken more seriously, rather than just a tick in the box, so that the learning from each project can be cycled back into the next project,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t can be uncomfortable for some architects but in healthcare, it saves lives.鈥�

鈥淲e need more awareness,鈥� says Sailer. 鈥淚t would be interesting to carry out a randomised control trial, common in medicine, where one group of patients gets the drug and another group the placebo. You could refurbish one floor of an office, using evidence from previous projects, and then compare it to how another floor performs.

鈥淭he construction industry needs to show clients how better POEs and better data collection will benefit them, otherwise they will be reluctant to accept it.鈥濃�淏arn鈥� operating theatres - where the main surgical area is open plan, allowing for multiple patients to be treated side by side - are a relatively new concept in the UK, but architects IBI have recently used the design on two hospitals. Broadgreen, in Liverpool, was completed in 2008, and significantly, evidence collated from the POE was used for the design of the orthopaedic facility of Wrightington Hospital, in Wigan, which opened its doors just before Christmas.

鈥淎fter the Broadgreen project, we carried out questionnaires with surgeons and anaesthesia staff,鈥� expains Mazuch. 鈥淲e compared the advantages and disadvantages of old and new. Previously, one in six patients would get a post operative infection, and this was reduced to one in 10 in the new theatre. We also used feedback from that POE in the Wrightington design.

鈥淲e鈥檙e now monitoring the effect of these changes at Wrightington, and their inpatients throughput has improved by 9%.鈥�