Designing Spaces for Masked Faces: Elements of a pandemic-friendly workspace.

AuthorNewman, Amy
PositionARCHITECTURE b ENGINEERING SPECIAL SECTION

The arrival of COVID-19 last March changed the way Alaskans live. Hand sanitizer and face masks became must-have items when leaving home, and phrases like "hunker down" and "social distance" became part of our daily lexicon.

The pandemic also dramatically changed how Alaskans, like much of the world, do business. Restaurants and retail stores relied heavily on delivery and curbside pickup options to help offset the loss of foot traffic, while the office workplace transitioned overnight from the traditional inperson model to an entirely--or almost entirely--remote workforce.

"I think people who work in offices have been lucky," says Giovanna Gambardella, principal and architectural services manager w with Stantec. "We were able to quickly move our workstation from the office to home."

Eventually, though, Alaskan workers will return to the office, assuming they haven't already. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a shift in thinking among business leaders about what constitutes the ideal workspace, whether it's a move to hybrid work schedules or open layout design concepts that are conducive to team collaboration and provide flexibility to accommodate changing health and safety recommendations.

"Just from a general standpoint, I think what's evidenced by projects the last nine or ten months is this ultimate need for flexibility," says Kelsey Davidson, principal with SALT. "So, creating a multi-functional space that can flex with changing needs."

Though the pandemic helped catalyze the shift in thinking among office-based businesses, many of the design changes currently being implemented aren't necessarily new. Instead, they are catching Alaska offices up to already occurring trends and aligning the workspace with recommendations designers and architects have suggested for years.

"There's no such thing as COVID-specific changes," says Dana Nunn, interior design director at Bettisworth North. "Designers are simply implementing a complement of best practices in interior spaces to manage air quality, thermal and acoustic comfort, choice, and support the needs of the worker."

Which of these best practices are put in place depends largely on the specific needs of the business.

"The public just wants a fix, but there isn't a single fix," Nunn says. "Everything is so nuanced. What you do is so dependent on what your operation can withstand."

Immediate Changes

When Governor Michael Dunleavy and Alaskan mayors issued the first stay-at-home orders last spring, businesses were forced to immediately modify their workspaces and identify creative solutions that allow them to continue meeting their customers' needs while simultaneously minimizing employee risk of exposure to the virus.

Traditional office workplaces...

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