We are now over 1 million deaths caused by Covid-19. More than 33 million cases worldwide.
There has been a spike of cases in Spain, France and the UK. Other world countries such as India and Brazil have yet to reach their peak.
It is becoming clear that protection from possible airborne diseases may need to be engineered into all building design.
Things such as space, ventilation and occupancy are going to play an important part.
@jwhite mentioned this in another thread which discusses ideas for consumers.
This thread is about infrastructure: to increase safety, what does the industry need to come up with?
Coronavirus Pandemic: Making Safer Emergency Hospitals
Some of the things that are going on right now: Cambridge University's Andrew Woods and Alan Short have come up with ideas to reduce the concentration of airborne viruses in buildings converted into makeshift wards.
These are relatively low-tech adaptations to the wards and the ventilation system.
(please log in to see content)
This thread is about infrastructure: to increase safety, what does the industry need to come up with?
There's a nice article I saved from BBC, which paints a somewhat bleak (almost dystopian) view of the future, which can be summarised as
- Working from home most of the time will be the norm - going to the office only for meetings
- Large-scale offices will be replaced by smaller premises
- Technology such as face recognition and voice activated commands will reduce the number of surfaces we touch
- Antimicrobial materials will be used for most furniture
- UV light in A/C systems reduces humidity and kill pathogens
- Open plan workspace will no longer be the norm
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-dc2d6e2d-3ab4-42de-8d03-bb7eda5fff8e
Scary 😯
It is an interesting article and makes you think how much will change with this pandemic. The office as we know it will change to some degree, maybe for now until there is a vaccine…but….this I think is a short term solution.
Working has always been associated with leaving the home for most of the day and interacting with other members of staff, meeting people on route, going for lunch and socialising to name a few. It has also been part of the status of a company and the premises they work from, their staff and the outsider knowing that this is a place of work.
Working from home although may be cheaper (lack of travel to and from work, buying lunch etc) there is a downside. The motivation you have when you are around others and the camaraderie while working is not there when you are alone. There is media in place for this, such as zoom but it's still not the same thing. If you live alone then you have no physical interaction with anyone….If you have a family, disruption is a problem to working and concentrating. If you live with others, are they all working from home? Is there enough space? There are a myriad of questions that need to be addressed to make working from home a viable option for the long term. The increase in psychological problems is also a factor, mental health is vitally important to good working environment.
The way forward now is not to disregard the office but to try and accommodate the existing buildings to conform to the 'new normal'. This may mean no longer having open plan offices or less people working at any one time, maybe on a rota, but it is about trying to get back to some kind of normal.
The main problem is the ventilation systems in office building, the majority are mechanically controlled centrally so opening windows for fresh air is not an option. To change the ventilation systems will be too great a cost and disruption and it is wiser to invent a filter that can be fitted onto existing systems to kill any harmful pathogens.
The office as we know it will change to some degree, maybe for now until there is a vaccine…but….this I think is a short term solution.
Hi nazart,
If by short term solution you mean things will go back the way they were, the International Monetary Fund called the pandemic The Word Economic Downturn Since the Great Depression and forecasted a fall in Gross Domestic Product of 3% and this was just back in April. They said
Under the assumption that the pandemic and required containment peaks in the second quarter for most countries in the world, and recedes in the second half of this year, in the April World Economic Outlook we project global growth in 2020 to fall to -3 percent. This is a downgrade of 6.3 percentage points from January 2020, a major revision over a very short period. This makes the Great Lockdown the worst recession since the Great Depression, and far worse than the Global Financial Crisis.
Assuming the pandemic fades in the second half of 2020 and that policy actions taken around the world are effective in preventing widespread firm bankruptcies, extended job losses, and system-wide financial strains, we project global growth in 2021 to rebound to 5.8 percent.
We are in October now and we're facing a 2nd wave. I think their forecast will end up being optimistic.
With this I wish to convey that if economies want to avoid a similar catastrophe going forwards they need to think all possible ways to combat this and other diseases, and that includes changing the way we design buildings too IMHO.
Cheers,
-Chris
Going forward it is a good idea that all new builds are designed to incorporate the changes within the design, I however do not think that it is cost effective to try and retrofit every building. Each existing building comes with it's own drawbacks especially those in the public sector. All existing buildings require changes but on a smaller scale....let's think about how to do this with little or no disruption and at a cost that won't break the bank.
I however do not think that it is cost effective to try and retrofit every building
Sure, I am not suggesting that we retrofit every building. But you've got to balance the cost effectiveness on one side and H&S on the other.
If it's just about Health and Safety then it will be cheaper just to close the building.
Thanks @foundational and @nazart, good debate.
About retrofitting, is there room for creativity?
Have you seen ideas that don't compromise on health and safety? Things that can be done without having to tear down the entire building?
I found this last night AIA’s COVID-19 Task Force Creates Design Guide to Retrofit Buildings for Alternative Care
The design guide provides a checklist highlighting important areas to consider when evaluating buildings, such as convention centers, sports arenas, community centers, hotels, dormitories and other spaces to be used for temporary healthcare operations during a pandemic. The tool is intended to help individuals who are not healthcare design experts with a rapid evaluation of buildings compatible for supporting patient care operations; providing for the needs and safety of healthcare staff and patients; and mitigating the spread of disease.
-Chris
Yes, AIA published a pretty good document about multifamily residential buildings.
Here it is
https://content.aia.org/sites/default/files/2020-08/AIA_COVID_Building_type_Multifamily_Housing.pdf
The AIA have also published documents for schools, offices and retail spaces. It's interesting reading and it's a good way to start to look at designing future buildings as space is crucial when adapting to a pandemic like this.
I haven't seen anything of this nature from the RIBA and it would be good to see how they would tackle this.
Nazart
Apologies for that but here is the link with all the different spacial layouts:
© 2020 – 2024 arqnetwork - All rights reserved.