By Adina Afshan - 17th July, 2025
At the 2025 Tradeline University Facilities Conference, one breakout session brought a deeply interdisciplinary lens to the questions of how academic spaces succeed, or fail, once occupied: Enhancing Academic Environments Through Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE). Co-led by the founder of PLASTARC, Melissa Marsh, alongside Mike Houston and Nick Shulz of RDG Planning & Design, the session advanced a compelling case for embedding POE into both project delivery and long-term campus strategy. More than an architectural methodology, their approach offered a reimagining of educational space, rooted in human experience, data, and continuous learning.
Melissa Marsh opened the session with a statement of purpose: her mission, she explained, is to "make the world a better place, one place at a time, really bringing that people's research to the equation." Rather than using metrics like square footage or cost-per-seat, she measures impact through accessibility, indoor air quality, inclusivity, and overall well-being. POE, in this framing, is not simply a tool for evaluation, it is a scientific method applied to the built environment: posing questions, conducting research, making observations, and communicating conclusions.
Mike Houston of RDG echoed this emphasis on human-centered inquiry, describing the practice of "creating together," where data "informs people" and where understanding the intersection of metrics and lived experience leads to more meaningful design. The team emphasized the importance of moving from utilization statistics to insights about how space design actively influences educational outcomes.
This methodology came alive in their case study of Hawkeye Community College's Health Sciences Building, a 1970s-era structure originally characterized by heavy precast construction and near total lack of natural light – "one window in the entire building," as Nick Schulz described it. Through renovation, the design team opened views, improved circulation, and created flexible, transparent environments that facilitated greater connection between programs, people, and the broader community.
One of the building's standout features is its integration of daylight, anchored by a central stair and skylight that dramatically improved both wayfinding and emotional well-being. Post-occupancy surveys revealed that 62-percent of users felt lighting significantly contributed to their positive experience of the building. Students in particular praised the informal study zones embedded within circulation areas, which became vibrant hubs of academic and social interaction. Faculty and students alike noted improved accessibility and stronger support for collaborative learning, though faculty expressed a desire for greater flexibility in classroom setups.
POE also revealed what the team called "opportunities for operational alignment." Stimulation labs, intended to immerse students in hands-on clinical environments, were underutilized, not due to poor design, but due to limited faculty awareness and scheduling miscommunications. Similarly, only a portion of the building's 25 dental operatories were in regular use. Observational data and booking records helped uncover these patterns, allowing for future improvements in programming, signage, and access protocols. Another revealing detail: approximately 10-percent of the footprint of the building was inaccessible to students due to unforeseen operations or security restrictions. This gap between design intent and functional reality underscored the importance of treating POE not as a postscript, but as an interactive process. As Melissa emphasized, "The scientific method is all we need to do great architectural research," but it must be applied rigorously, and repeatedly.
To that end, both PLASTARC and RDG are working toward a repeatable, scalable approach to POE that integrates pre-design and post-occupancy. Their ultimate goal is to shift industry norms away from geometric and financial metrics toward experiential and impact-based evaluations. By embedding the Post-Occupancy Evaluation method early and often, design teams can test hypotheses, validate user needs, and ensure that the built environment evolves alongside its community.
The session concluded with four key imperatives, each crystallized in the final Tradeline headlines: amplify POE results, use POE to test and validate design hypotheses, embed change management into the POE process, and leverage POE for continuity and adaptation. Together these strategies form a model for academic institutions seeking to align space with mission, not just to create buildings that function, but places that are genuinely used, loved, and transformative.
