Numerous events and diseases have led architecture to change throughout history. For example, the plague epidemic that happened in China in 1855 caused many changes from the door sills to the building foundations, and the cholera epidemic that took place in 1954 revealed the need for the renewal of London’s infrastructure, revealing the importance of sewage systems. The modernism movement has emerged from the effects of tuberculosis disease on social life.
In other words, these events we have read from history books until now, show that sustaining life during a pandemic is not the first time in human history. Just like in the past, we will take our lessons from this pandemic, perhaps develop a new architectural trend and create our ‘new normal’ by breaking our habits.
Although working from the comfort of our home, not using public transportation, avoiding traffic stress makes us feel good from time to time, it is not a sustainable solution in the long term due to the social structure of the people.
Working from home, where we encounter many problems such as communication breakdowns and distraction, seems to save money at the moment, but actually causes low productivity in most sectors.
When it is time to return to our new normal, there is no doubt that there will be numerous changes in our workplaces, as in many areas of our lives.
Some photographs that indicate lack of social distance:
The laws to protect the “Social Distance” within the workplaces that are expected to be on the agenda in the coming days pose question marks for both employers and employees.
- How can we plan the return from the home office system to the office when the time comes?
- What measures can we take and how can we make changes?
- When should we start planning?
- How can we be sure of the safety of returning to the office?
As Diem, which has always put customer satisfaction at the forefront since its establishment, we are ready to help our customers get through this difficult process in the most comfortable and undamaged way and answer their questions.
First of all, we identified the spatial problems that we expected to face.
- Reception area management
- Management of cargo delivery/distribution, chauffeur and guest waiting areas
- Control and management of outside visitors
- Open office system (ensuring the hygiene of shared desks)
- The in-office density that prevents social distance (180 cm) from being maintained
- Management and arrangement of meeting rooms and conference rooms
- Use of social areas
- Use of other common areas (WC, project rooms, dining hall, etc.)
- The use of circulation areas
- Ventilation quality
- Other Hygiene issues
In line with our research, we aim to adapt the “Six feet Office” logic, which more than 10,000 institutions have already transitioned to in China, to your current office plan in the most optimal way, and to offer suitable solution plans to companies that have budget and space problems.
So what can we do about these?
1. Preparation for the New
Purpose: By starting to plan and take precautions a few weeks before the time to recall them to the office, to make the staff working at home feel safe about their health.
- Providing accurate and clear communication with the staff about the transition to the office will be the most important stage of this stage.
- For employees who will return to the office, why they should return to the office, and for those who will work from home, why they should work at home should be well expressed.
- Things that are going to change and things that are going to remain the same should be explained well. Ex: company vision does not change, staff’s contribution to the company does not change
- To plan how the current office plan can be transformed into the social distance
- Creating a plan to improve the circulation area in the office
- Creating the circulation order of the employees in the office
- To evaluate the employees in the “essential and vulnerable” categories that are to identify the employees who have to be in the office full-time, who have an underlying disease or the elderly, and take precautions accordingly.
- Creating a mixed program of working from home and office
- To reduce the number of people in the office, to switch to the rotational shift technique
- Adapting the same transformation to the lunchtimes
2. New Normal
Purpose: Turning the plans into reality, making arrangements in the office area
- Setting up a checkpoint at the entrance of the office, to control the fever and mask of the employees entering
- Creation of disinfection areas, placing disinfectant in various areas of the office
- Ensuring that customers and suppliers coming to the company do not enter the office/building or provide controlled access
- Ex: For the customers, a meeting room should be placed close to the entrance, the incoming cargo and samples should enter from a separate entrance, if possible, and then disinfected in a special area that is reserved.
- Creating a separate area for the staff working outside, reducing contact with the office staff as much as possible
- Reducing the usage capacity of meeting rooms in half and enabling the remaining to attend the meeting via computers
- Switching to high tables in some of the meeting rooms, activating the standing meeting system and making efficient use of meeting times
- Establishment of employees’ social space user manual to keep the social distance
- the sharing of Technological tools, stationery materials, etc. used in the office should be minimized
- Placement of signs/instructions in various places, especially table circles, expected areas.
- Use of temporary separation elements indicating personal workspaces/creation of semi-closed workspaces
3. New Future
Purpose: The social effects of this pandemic that we live will continue for many years. Therefore, making temporary solutions permanent will be effective in preventing many diseases that may occur in the future.
- Switching to touch-free technology
- Ex: Elevators used with sound or hand movement,
- Sensor doors
- Sensor toilet covers
- Sensor batteries
- Thermal cameras
- Mechanical system improvements
- It is necessary to ensure the indoor air quality and prevent the transmission of the virus from one place to another.
- For this, the condition of the existing building mechanical system should be checked and necessary precautions should be taken accordingly.
- Adding open spaces to offices, expanding the working areas by re-evaluating the existing open areas (eg transforming areas such as terrace/garden used as a social area into a working area)
- The transition from vertical circulation buildings to horizontal circulation buildings
- Preferring office buildings where natural ventilation can be provided
As Diem, we are aware that every customer is different and every company has its own unique needs and demands.
Therefore, we aim to create the adaptation process of our customers in the most appropriate way with our flexible, human-centered, green and futuristic COVID-19 designs, and to provide the duty of being the solution partner of its customers which always been DIEM’s priority.
References
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/covid-19-design
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/apr/13/smart-lifts-l
onely-workers-no-towers-architecture-after-covid-19-coronavirus
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/covid19-coronavirus-change-office-work-homeworking-remote-design/
https://www.fastcompany.com/90488060/our-offices-will-never-be-the-same-after-covid-19-heres-what-they-could-look-like
https://www.fastcompany.com/90467660/how-a-nonprofit-youve-never-heard-of-made-the-web-safer-for-everyone
https://www.gensler.com/research-insight/blog/10-considerations-for-transitioning-back-to-work-in-a-posthttps://www.gensler.com/research-insight/blog/what-happens-when-we-return-to-the-workplace
https://www.gensler.com/research-insight/blog/planning-for-a-post-covid-return-to-campus
https://www.freepik.com/premium-vector/business-office-people-maintain-social-distancing-meeting-room-stop-covid-19-coronavirus_7660859.htm
https://www.dunya.com/kose-yazisi/zamani-ileri-sardik/469278
