A+H Special Projects

Fall 2018 - Making the Case for Case Studies

By Creating a New Dynamic Database Reference for Practitioners and Researchers

Clemson University's Architecture + Health Graduate Studies Program has always utilized case studies as part of their studio project process, and over time has honed this case study process into a more formal graphic format. As Chair of the AIA Academy of Architecture for Health Research Initiatives Committee, Professor of Practice Byron Edwards saw the opportunity to create an AIA/AAH "Benchmarking" Case Study Library by utilizing Clemson's Architecture + Health format to create case studies from AIA Academy of Architecture for Health Design Award winning projects. The AIA/AAH Case Study Library officially opened for business in late 2016, with the goal of "bridging the gap" between research and practice. 

The initial purposes of this Case Study effort by the Research Initiatives Committee are the following:

1. 1. Gathering and/or creating case studies to share with the industry
   2. Using the AIA/AAH Health Care Design Awards program as one source for case studies
   3. Defining a format for meaningful case studies and encouraging firms and their clients to use it 
   4. Creating a AIA/AAH Case Study Repository for sharing case studies

We hope that this focused and formal approach to collegial sharing of Design Award Winning Project information will help us all do better work by creating enough Project Case Studies for a Qualitative Comparison BASELINE in the Repository. This allows us to develop scalable metrics that in turn will provide us with some Best Practice “Rules of Thumb” and “Benchmarking” Analyses on our projects, which may lead to and encourage additional RESEARCH opportunities (POEs, etc.)

For more information, go to www.aia.org/aah and click Library-Healthcare Design Awards Case Studies

Spring 2017 Projects - LTACH and Wellness District Project - Boone, NC

This spring 2017 semester, Architecture + Health Graduate Studies students in their final semester will be designing their comprehensive projects, a Long Term Acute Care Hospital to be located on the Watauga Medical Center campus in Boone, North Carolina. The First Year graduate A+H students will be researching and investigating healthy communities planning examples, ultimately implementing these Healthy Community planning concepts and guidelines into a comprehensive masterplans and zoning proposals for the Watauga Wellness District in Boone, NC.  This is a Public Service Project and is funded by the Appalachian Healthcare System and supported by both the Health System and the Town of Boone.  Throughout this process, the students will be gaining insight and feedback from professionals from the Town of Boone and the Watauga Medical Center as well as from a larger Community dialogue during the three (3) Public Forums that the students will be presenting their analysis of existing conditions and zoning regulation, three proposed alternatives plans, and a final comprehensive master plan based on that dialogue.

Spring 2018 Comprehensive Project Models

Spring 2018 Wellness District Concepts

Fall 2016 Project Overview - OR Mockup and Ambulatory Surgery Center

During the fall 2016 semester, both studios investigated the Ambulatory Surgery Center in various scopes. Second-year students designed and built a full-scale mock up Operating Room at the Clemson Design Center in Charleston. This mock up and its design are to serve as a test prototype for an optimal, adaptable and flexible ambulatory surgery OR "platform" or "chassis". First-year students in the Architecture + Health program focused upon the design of an Ambulatory Surgery Center in its entirety. During the 2016 RIPCHD.OR Workshop in Charleston, SC, both studios worked collaboratively with clinicians and healthcare architects to create guidelines related to the OR and Ambulatory Surgery Center flow processes, information which will be then applied toward their project designs.

NCARB Booklet

Operating Room Mockup Build, November 2, 2016

Operating Room Mock-Up Simulations

Working alongside physicians and other clinical experts, Architecture + Health students and faculty tested the mock-up of their Operating Room Design in Charleston through procedure simulations.

Workshop in Charleston

Spring 2015 - Downtown Clemson Design Proposals

As part of a service learning project, A+H students will present ideas for improving downtown Clemson and welcome input and participation from members of the Clemson Community. See a video and our presentation from our first and third public forum here.