Evidence-based design in practice : a thematic analysis

Abstract

This paper presents an observational study of the activities of an interdisciplinary design team tasked with designing a healthcare facility in a developing country. The intent of the team was to implement «evidence-based design». Tracking the disciplinary interactions of the participants, we investigate emerging issues concerning integration of evidence coming from different sources into the architectural design delivered. The study adopts a data-driven thematic approach in the analysis of the qualitative data datacollected. We discuss three themes –textures of evidence, operationalizing evidence and tools of integration– that emerge out of our qualitative analysis of evidence-based design practice.