Recently I had the honor of participating in a lively discussion with a group of wonderful colleagues, gathered together by my friends Viveca Bissonette and Jeff Hollander of Hollander Design Group in San Diego, and John Rouse of Perception Studio. Our topic was “Top COVID 19 Predictions”, and I was inspired to hear all of the thoughtful and visionary ideas put forth by Chris Stulpin, Martin Flaherty, Roz Cama, Brian Graham, Ken Wilson, and Jennifer McGregor. OfficeInsight has done a fabulous recap of our talk, see the full article here, and be sure to subscribe to their weekly publication, sharing thoughtful and relevant stories for our industry.
After hearing all of these wonderful ideas, I was inspired to ask the STA team about their thoughts, Here is is a summary of some thoughts from the STA team!
Imran: “Is the future COVID proof or is it about improving remote working conditions? There have been many predictions made, articles written and solutions proposed that envision the future as being COVID proof, but not many deal with the idea that the current reality has forced us into a new found appreciation of the privilege, and the ability to work remotely, often just as -or in some cases more- efficiently. Sure, plexiglass screens, socially distant markers and appropriately placed furniture does show a physical and spatial transformation towards a COVID proof space, but are these temporary means or are they here to stay well into the coming years? When people are getting more and more comfortable having the ability to work remotely, and the ones that are unable to do so feel the brunt of losing their jobs or risking their lives to earn their livelihood, maybe the next step is towards making remote working more accessible and more reliable.”
Derek: My prediction for 2021 is that we’ll be refocusing on green design and how to continue pushing green design even through a pandemic that temporarily forced us to be less “green”. I also predict that the tools we use for design (revit, CAD, etc.) will become more integrated and mobile than they currently are. This may even mean a shift for some into VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) workflows.
Nate: “There will be very little change in the way spaces are designed in the next year. I think there will be fewer people coming to work and additional people will be working from home, but by and large, companies will hold. I think the next 5 years may bring more changes because the design will follow the science. Particularly innovative designers will drive the science forward as we have seen in the sustainability arena, and arrive at some significant ideas about how to change the design of spaces. The rest of the companies will be able to push forward adopting those changes, but it will be slow.”
Andy: If we have a vaccine available next year, I predict many workplaces will go back to what they were before:Because they may not be forward thinking;
They may be part of an industry that cannot accommodate remote work. I just thought of lab researchers, for example. They may be tied to leases that cannot be changed in the near future.
In relation to classrooms, I think they will continue to exist:
- Because some parents may not like homeschooling;
- Because some parents may not be able to afford homeschooling;
- Because some parents may want to go back to separating their work environment from their home environment, specially if they live in big cities and do not live in spacious houses;
- Because some parents may find fundamental to have their kids interact with others to develop social skills;
Nathalia: 1. People realized during 2020 the amount of time spent in transportation between work and their houses. If this path takes 1 hour this is an extra 10 hours/week that we can use to perform other activities that can improve our quality of life and our performance at work. The same time saving applies to clients. Now they realized that they can virtually interact with the designers, architects and software and this has improved the accuracy of the design results.
2. In the opposite direction, people will value the opportunity of interacting within the team and the clients. The ‘first impression’ or ‘feeling the energy’ in the conversation is still not possible with the use of the virtual interaction’s tools.
Yingli: My studio class at school has been implementing design concepts in response to the post pandemic world while many professions have not yet created a specific guideline for that. However there was a brief discussion about whether we should start having more outdoor spaces within buildings which I think it will be an essential element to create that for unpredictable events like the pandemic.
Joe: 1. Designers will begin to walk clients or consultants through Revit models or Enscape models to explain design intent. 2. The way we design for our clients will change to best suit COVID guidelines, and a new set of standards will replace current design standards we use today.
