It will use the rich information available from the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s (SCCM) annual design competition and perform a comparative data analysis, contributing to evidence-based data. This quantitative and graphic analysis describes architectural planning and trends in ICU designs from around the world.

Objectives: There are several learning objectives:

1. Exploring future trends in the design of these complex facilities;
2. Learning about the similarities and differences of winning designs;
3. Comparing designs from the United States to international winning entries; and
4. Obtaining valuable planning and design data for future design challenges.

Methods: All SCCM design competition entries include descriptive forms completed by the ICU submitting. This information provides background data for judges related to: design approach and concept; construction budgets; type(s) of patients; overall size of the units; and a small-scale floor plan of the unit. The ICU also provides a video wall-through with a voice-over description of the unit and the attributes that staff feel are important. The author has also toured a number of winning ICUs, interviewing staff and physicians, and photographing the units in operation.

Results: The design competition entry data, additional information collected through post-occupancy tours, and architectural plan analysis have yielded comparisons of past ICU winning designs. The findings compare: planning approach and concept; space programme components and areas; social organisation of the unit; architectural layout; configurations; and circulation patterns. They reflect changing attitudes to patient- and family-centred care and accommodations, and attitudes towards staff facilities in the ICU.

Conclusions: The SCCM design competition offers an exemplary collection of ICUs, judged by physicians and nurses who specialise in critical care medicine and by architects who specialise in health facility design. Data collected and analysed from these units offer great understanding of historical information on critical care design and offer a guide to possible future trends in this specialty.