Academy of Architecture for Justice

The Academy of Architecture for Justice Courthouse Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) Toolkit provides the opportunity to gather and analyze information about several aspects of a building’s performance, such as functional area operations, user and occupant satisfaction, maintenance requirements and technical performance, and safety and security.

 
The Courthouse POE Toolkit consists of:

• Guidance and forms for planning the POE
• Five Information-gathering instruments:
  • Plan Review Form: aids in documentation of the physical characteristics and functions;
  • Building Conditions Survey: for evaluation of the condition and performance;
  • Building Conditions Interview: a semi-structured interview to be completed with the facilities manager;
  • Court Staff Survey: assesses the degree to which the building design supports staff;
  • Court Visitor Survey: assesses the degree to which the building design supports visitors.
• On-site fieldwork recommendations 
• Suggestions on data analysis methods

Toolkit sample page

 
The Courthouse POE toolkit is part of a broad effort by the AIA to disseminate Knowledge pertaining to best practices in justice facility design. As such, toolkit users will be asked to anonymously share their findings. The results will contribute to a database of aggregated information about courthouse design that will inform substantial improvement in the field, and allow researchers to examine the relationships among physical variables of courthouse design and their outcomes.

We hope you find this toolkit useful and that it helps further the pursuit of meaningful evidence-based design practices!

In order to download the toolkit, users must agree to the terms and conditions included on the download page.