This is part two of my three-part series on creating and designing offices and workplaces in a post-COVID world. In this post, I’ll walk you through reception spaces, conference rooms, common areas, and gathering spaces, and will explore the importance of mechanical systems.
Reception areas: Hands off
No surprise here: Technology will reign as the first line of defense for visitors to your offices. Look for larger offices with many visitors to install fever-screening systems. The technology, first used in Asian countries as a response to the early 2000s SARs outbreak, acts like a metal detector, scanning visitors for high temperatures or fevers and alerting the reception team that there may be an issue.
In post-COVID offices, technology will also be used for guests to check-in via a smart device, by simply selecting the person you want to meet via a mobile app and they receive a notification of your arrival. A receptionist’s role will be to assist and guide the process.
For more formal reception areas, you’ll still check in with a live person, wait for your appointment, and then be escorted back to an office. However, look for reception desks and counters to increase in depth to further separate the receptionist from the guest for their safety. Depth will provide a more elegant way to social distance without plexiglass screens, lines or arrows on the floor—strategies that are well-intentioned today, but will become obsolete when better, more designed solutions replace them.
Due to their naturally antimicrobial surfaces and make-up, materials like wood, metal, stone, wool, and cotton will be used in reception areas and offices in general. These materials will replace laminate, plastic, nylon carpets, and petroleum-based products.
Lastly, that bowl of candies on the reception desk? You’ll still get a breath mint or a jelly bean, but it’ll just be delivered through a dispensing system or single-serve packages.
These before and after illustrations below illustrate how an office can be designed to be healthier.
Conference rooms: Larger spaces, more air
Conference room layouts and access to them will change. For instance, a typical conference room with an 8’-0” table, chairs, exterior window, and a three-foot door that gets shut during meetings is a scenario that will become obsolete.
To combat these tight spaces, conference rooms for larger groups will have larger thresholds, with a sliding door system that opens up to the full width of the entry wall so it can be left partially or all the way open. This not only provides fresh air from outside the room but allows occupants to feel less trapped in a stifling box. Additionally, offices will look to place conference rooms on exterior walls with operable windows so that fresh air can be brought in for comfort most days of the year.
New tech will accelerate in conference rooms, such as gesture-based devices and web-based conferencing. Cameras, microphones, and speaker technology is advancing quickly and will continue to enable off-site meetings of any size. From a distance perspective, teleconferencing will save time —traveling for 60 minutes for a 30-minute meeting eats up the day. You’ll get some time back.
A look at a traditional, pre-COVID break room.
Existing workspaces provide may opportunities to improve for safety.
Gathering spaces more like ‘zones’
Hanging out and talking about last night’s Blazers game or how much fun you had on your vacation around the water cooler will still happen, but there will be options for staff that don’t wish to congregate with others in large groups.
In the breakroom area, tasks will be split into zones. The sink and dishwasher will be separated from the refrigerator and microwave and garbage /recycling. This will allow people to go about their tasks without having to get too close co-workers. A portion of closed cabinets will turn into open shelving so that plates or mugs can be grabbed without having to open doors. Additionally, refrigerators will have ice and water dispensers or you will see countertop appliances that provide this service. Faucets will be motion-activated and soap will come from a dispenser.
We will also see coffee bar zones spread throughout the office so staff doesn’t have to congregate in one central room. These areas will host coffee, tea, water, and perhaps a small refrigerator for cold drinks. These areas can also be used for posting notices or updates on what is new in office culture.
You will also see more options for introverted employees to work outside of the workstation, but not have to be part of a larger group setting. Smaller 2-4 person “booths” can be used for heads-down work near windows or just off of the community room, within earshot of group activity, but still private enough to work. Additionally, you will see small to medium size collaboration areas that will be “just right” sized for team projects located near workstation areas to cut down on inter-office travel.
Socializing and collaboration will still occur in offices, it will just look different as gesture/motion-based devices, and voice command technology will thrive.
Break rooms will still provide amenities but will look and act much different.
Break rooms will still provide amenities but will look and act much different.
Better, safer air with HVAC and mechanicals
National building code requires a certain amount of fresh air to be distributed via mechanical systems so that less stale air is being re-circulated. Offices will voluntarily install systems that go beyond national code to bring in more fresh air.
Night flushing, typically found in the LEED rating system, might become the norm, too. This “flushing” of air involves clearing out the daytime air and bringing in outside air throughout the night to help cool the space, but also bring more fresh air in. This LEED technique could possibly be used in non-LEED buildings, not for a higher energy efficiency rating, but to provide cooled down, fresh air in the future.
Obviously, a retrofitted space will have different techniques and technology used to transform HVAC. In an older, smaller building, it could be a matter of putting more inline filtration in the mechanical system itself, setting it up so that there's less recycled air and more fresh air, or opening windows that have been painted shut for increased airflow. Clean air will be a hot-button topic.
In my final piece, I’ll focus on general design, good strategies, and how we can all move forward with designed solutions.
I’d love to hear your thoughts. Email me here or leave a comment in the post.