Faculty Scholars
David Allison, FAIA, FACHA
Alumni Distinguished Professor of Architecture
Director, Graduate Studies in Architecture and Health
School of Architecture
Contact: 864-656-3897 or adavid@clemson.edu
Who is Professor Allison?
David Allison is an alumni distinguished professor of architecture and director of Clemson University’s Graduate Program in Architecture + Health (A+H). The innovative A+H program at Clemson is the most comprehensive and structured program of its kind in the nation. It combines healthcare environment design, research, and scholarship with the aim of developing generalist-specialist graduates who are capable of engaging in healthful community design, planning and design of healthcare facilities, and the healthful design of the built environment. David received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architecture from Clemson. He is NCARB certified and is a licensed architect in South Carolina and North Carolina. He founded an annual Architecture for Health Educators Summit for the AIA Academy of Architecture for Health and is a Fellow and founding member of the American College of Healthcare Architects. Healthcare Design Magazine named David as one of the “Twenty Making a Difference” in 2007 and as one of the “Most Influential People in Healthcare Design” in 2009, 2010, and 2012. Design Intelligence Magazine named him one of the nation’s 30 Most Admired Design Educators in 2014-14. In 2019 he was recognized by Design Intelligence Magazine as one of the Nation’s Most Admired Design Educators, the Center for Health Design with its Changemaker Award and the American College of Healthcare Architects with a Lifetime Achievement Award. He has also received numerous other awards, including being named a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.
For more information about David, see his Curriculum Vitae.
How Professor Allison’s research is transforming health care
Allison’s research and scholarship focuses on relationships between health and the built environment at many scales from communities to healthcare settings. His work in healthcare facilities is concerned with balancing how they can be designed to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness, improve health and health outcomes, improve patient, family and staff satisfaction and how they can accommodate changing needs over time. He initiated Clemson’s award-winning collaborative Patient Room Prototype design initiative. He is a co-investigator on the $4 million-dollar AHRQ sponsor project Realizing Improved Patient Care Through Human Centered Design in the Operating Room [RIPCHD.OR]. He is working to transform health care by educating future design professionals who focus on the design of healthcare facilities and translating research into usable design knowledge for health environments. He is concerned with meeting the needs of patients, family, and staff and improving the quality care while minimizing operational costs, space, and resources in an ever-changing healthcare landscape.
News and media related to Professor Allison’s research
Architecture + Health program director David Allison receives lifetime achievement and Changemaker awards, Clemson University Media Relations, 2019
HCD Expo Keynote: A Quest for Quality, Healthcare Design Magazine, 2019
Architecture - Most Admired Educators, Design Intelligence Rankings, 2019
David Allison named fellow by Healthcare Architects, Media Relations, 2013
The Most Influential People in Healthcare Design: David Allison, Healthcare Design, 2012
Clemson architecture professor David Allison named Alumni Distinguished Professor, Media Relations, 2012
Healthcare Design magazine recognizes Clemson architecture professor, Creative Operations Media Release, 2010
Health Research Expertise Keywords
Built Environment, Architecture, Health Facilities, Architecture for Health, Healthcare Facilities, Healthcare Design, Flexibility, Patient-Centered Care, Patient Room Prototype, Healthy Community Planning and Design, Master Planning, Urban Design, Design, Design and Health, Health Care Quality