Published post-occupancy evaluation (POE) studies of new or renovated hospital environments are still rare. The need for an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the complex causality of the perceived performance of new environments that may affect ‘bricks, bytes and behaviour’, is just one barrier. Often hospital organisations lack opportunities to apply findings in future projects, and also lack the resources to conduct or guide research projects needed to close the evidence-based design cycle. Similarly, POE is not a subject being taught in architectural education.

However, starting with a collaborative approach within a Dutch university medical centre (UMC), a network of collaborations with other UMCs, hospitals, universities and universities of applied science has been established recently. This innovative approach gets students, lecturers, researchers and practitioners to collaborate in order to expand the understanding of the interaction between the hospital built environment and its users. In this abstract, we explore the participation of Bachelor and Masters students in answering hospital-related POE research questions. The aim of the study is to present and reflect on how students have been involved in POE research projects for Dutch UMCs to better understand the potential of this resource, as well as looking at the preconditions to balance the interests of all stakeholders involved.

Hospitals provide case studies for student education in research methods. From 2018 onwards, students from different disciplines have contributed to POE research studies in Dutch UMCs, resulting in (Bachelor and Masters) graduation theses and (material for) scientific publications. The majority of the research projects concern qualitative research (interviews, observations), with the addition of some more quantitative survey studies. Students can contribute to data collection, analysis and presentation/dissemination as part of individual or group assignments.

Collaboration between lecturers, researchers and ‘boots on the ground’ in the UMCs is a prerequisite to successfully developing relevant research questions, organising interaction with hospital staff and offering proper tutoring of students during their research. While study results already provide value at the local level, the time and embeddedness of these kinds of research projects in a larger (potentially national) research effort seem to be serious constraints to publishing results in scientific papers.

Students may be a ‘hidden’ resource to conduct POE studies in all hospital settings. Understanding the need to facilitate education for non-medical/nursing professionals and a network of professionals with shared (research) interests enhances the chance that this resource can be deployed.

In architectural education and practice, the evaluation of a building’s functional, psychosocial and social performance – its ability to meet user needs – is often neglected (Brown, 2018). Post-occupancy evaluation (POE), a systematic approach to assessing whether buildings fulfill their design intentions and respond to both explicit and implicit user needs, offers a promising solution to this oversight (Lehane, 2022). Despite its potential, architectural education often prioritises conceptual design, with project evaluations heavily influenced by subjective opinions of professors, visiting critics and peers. This approach leaves students with limited insight into how their designs perform in real-world contexts (Duffy, 2008). Research indicates that integrating POE into architectural training can help students better understand design effectiveness and prevent recurring design flaws (Hay et al., 2017; Brown, 2019). Furthermore, architects trained to apply POE methods are better equipped to create spaces that meet user expectations over time, thereby reducing the likelihood of premature building modifications (RIBA, 2017).

This paper presents how two courses teach POE to their students, one at the faculty of architecture at Delft University of Technology and the other at the faculty of architecture at Technische Universität Wien. We illustrate how students in these courses are taught to apply POE, focusing on healthcare environments through a structured research process. The courses at both universities teach students to conduct POE in real-life healthcare settings, such as Klinik Floridsdorf and Erasmus MC. Students are introduced to a research question and trained to develop appropriate data collection techniques, including observations and interviews. They gather both quantitative and qualitative data, which they then analyse by integrating findings from multiple methods. The process emphasises linking user feedback with observations of building performance to foster a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between physical design and user experience.

The structured POE training process enabled students to develop a deeper understanding of how design impacts users over time. By applying POE methods, students gained insights into the practical implications of designs and learned about user needs in healthcare environments. We will discuss the potential benefits of integrating POE in architectural training for students, faculty and the architectural profession as a whole.