suffered fewer complications, used less pain medication and were discharged sooner than those who looked out on a brick wall; and laid the foundation for what has now become a discipline known as evidence-based design. Studies exist about the psychological effects of lighting, carpeting and noise on critical-care patients, and evidence links physical environment with improvement of patients and staff safety, wellness and satisfaction. Architectural researchers have studied the impact of hospital layout on staff effectiveness, and social scientists studied guidance and wayfinding. Architectural researchers have conducted post-occupancy evaluations (POE) to provide advice on improving building design and quality. While the EBD process is particularly suited to healthcare, it may be also used in other fields for positive health outcomes and provision of healing environments. Evidence-based design for healthcare facilities There is a growing awareness among healthcare professionals and medical planners for the need to create patient-centered environments that can help patients and family cope with the stress that accompanies illness. There is also growing supporting research and evidence through various studies that have shown both the influence of well-designed environments on positive patient health outcomes, and poor design on negative effects including longer hospital stays. Using biophilic design concepts in interior environments is increasingly argued to have positive impacts on health and well-being through improving direct and indirect experiences of nature. Numerous studies have demonstrated improved patient health outcomes through environmental measures; exposing patients to nature has been shown to produce substantial alleviation of pain, and limited research also suggests that patients experience less pain when exposed to higher levels of daylight in their hospital rooms. Patients have an increased need for sleep during illness, but suffer from poor sleep when hospitalised. Approaches such as single-bed rooms and reduced noise have been shown to improve patient sleep. Natural daylight in patient rooms help to maintain circadian rhythms and improve sleep. According to Heerwagen, an environmental psychologist, medical models of health integrate behavioral, social, psychological, and mental processes. Contact with nature and daylight has been found to enhance emotional functioning; drawing on research from studies (EBD) on well-being outcomes and building features. Positive feelings such as calmness increase, while anxiety, anger, or other negative emotions diminish with views of nature. In contrast there is also convincing evidence that stress could be worsened and ineffective in fostering restoration in built environments that lack nature. Few studies have shown the restorative effects