The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has changed the way we think about our health and safety in public spaces.
This means we must begin to “design and curate spaces with a different set of intentions,” Dr. Chegut argued.
Density ratios and touchless technology; advanced air quality measures; and “pre-clean rooms,” offsite construction and robotic assistants, as well as a “resurgence in self-sustaining and local neighborhoods” are ahead and will have long-lasting impacts on the workplace.
Good structures, great technology
A healthy building requires a host of interventions, but at its heart is good design, according to JPMorgan Chase’s Global Head of Property Management Mike Norton. No single intervention can eliminate COVID-19, Norton observed during our panel discussion, so office design requires a “layering of defenses.”
JPMorgan Chase’s newest building in New York, designed along biophilic principles, features soaring ceilings, flooding floors with natural light; high fresh air rates and advanced air filtration, together with a selection of natural materials. These features were designed to prioritize human health and have been “reinforced” during the pandemic, Norton said.
Getting the building’s structure right is important. But JPMorgan Chase is also “thinking a lot about intelligent buildings” and how people can interact with them “in a touchless way,” said JPMorgan’s Managing Director Erik Umlauf.