Our faculty and researchers are an integral part of the curriculum at the College of Design. In addition to specialty research and topical seminars, we offer courses dedicated to healthcare design and research.
ARCH 6271 - Healthcare Design of the Future (3 credits)
This course introduces students to the foundational components of healthcare facilities and the critical issues shaping healthcare design and research today. Grounded in evidence-based design principles, the course emphasizes understanding key research findings and how data-driven approaches inform design decisions across diverse healthcare environments.
Through multidisciplinary collaboration, students analyze healthcare settings by integrating clinical processes, technology, and design thinking. The course prepares students to work in collaborative teams and apply research-informed design methods to develop innovative solutions that respond to real-world healthcare challenges.
Course Project Showcase 2024 - Innovations in Rural Health Design
The 2024 course focuses on developing innovative design solutions to address the disparities in rural healthcare and improve patient and staff experiences in rural communities. Most rural health facilities in the U.S. are in a disadvantaged position, with very limited knowledge and expertise specific to their operational context. Other rural areas outside the U.S. experience similar struggles. Students are encouraged to explore innovative and forward-thinking design solutions to address rural health issues within or outside the U.S.
ARCH 6243 - Evidence-Based Design (3 credits)
This interdisciplinary course analyzes major trends and issues in health care design. It addresses contemporary healthcare facility design and planning issues by in-depth investigation of best practice examples, design and research methods, including evidence-based, lean process improvement, and space syntax analysis that leads to high-performance healthcare design. The class modules and hands-on experience in applying EBD in healthcare facilities will help prepare students to take the EDAC (Evidence-based Design Accreditation and Certification) exam.
Course Project Showcase 2025 - XXXXXXInnovations in Rural Health Design
XXXXXXXXXThe 2024 course focuses on developing innovative design solutions to address the disparities in rural healthcare and improve patient and staff experiences in rural communities.
ARCH 4017 - Senior Capstone Design Studio for Health
This course prepares students to engage and participate in architectural research and design to test and evaluate innovations at the intersection of design and health. It integrates research and design processes that address complex factors and prepares students to understand architecture with an interdisciplinary framework.
Course Project Showcase 2025 - Grady Crestview Health & Rehabilitation Center Expansion: Evidence-based Design for Next Generation of Rehabilitation and Transitional Care Center
A Collaborative Studio Between Georgia Tech/Grady Health System/Gresham Smith
Advisor: Hui Cai
External Advisors: George Smith (Grady Health System)
Corie Baker, Pat Burke, Julie Mullen, Dexter Carty, Lauren Nee, & Lesa Lorusso (Gresham Smith)
This studio invites our students to develop innovative approaches toward better support for rehabilitation patients and their families and caregivers. Grady seeks to expand and refresh Crestview Rehabilitation and Transitional Care Center to enhance services for patients transitioning from hospital care to independent living. The expansion project includes roughly 70,000 SF of new ground-up construction, adding 124 beds, and a refresh of the existing building (270 beds) that aims to create a supportive environment equipped with specialized amenities and programs to facilitate the recovery and rehabilitation process for patients requiring subacute care and short-term rehabilitation services.
ID8803 - Design for Emotion and Subjective Well-Being
This course explores advanced user-centered design methods aimed at enhancing well-being and fostering positive emotional experiences in individuals and communities, including the students themselves, through the design of products, services, and systems. With a focus on subjective well-being, the course also emphasizes the development of practical solutions.
Course Project Showcase 2025 - Design for Students’ Emotion and Subjective Well-being
The 2024 course discusses the well-being of students and how it can be enhanced through design. The course emphasizes research methods for investigating these phenomena and design tools for promoting them through practical projects. Students had the opportunity to apply these tools and reflect on the challenges of measuring their long-lasting impact on subjective well-being.
