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The evolving mandates of the CDC and Governor Newsom dictate that business leaders make accommodations to the physical environment for the well-being of their workforce and customers. Many recommendations can be incorporated into currently leased spaces and easily planned for prior to leasing. This INSIGHTS presents modifications tenants will be expected to provide in their built environments.

ONE: Deploy Ventilated Outdoor Spaces for Business and Socializing

Recommendations are clear — poor air circulation is responsible for COVID transmission. Deploying the outdoor spaces around your commercial building provides for social distancing and excellent air flow while providing needed space for business tasks and socializing. Caliber has decades of experience helping construct business-focused outdoor spaces such as:

  • Outdoor tables that can host meetings as well as dining.
  • Recreation such as mini-golf, bocce ball, fixed in- place ping pong tables and checker board tables to enable groups to congregate outdoors with less risk.

TWO: Use Technology to Bridge Social Distancing

The need for more advanced cloud, network and modern IT infrastructure became evident immediately when stay-at-home orders were issued and that demand will not lessen for the foreseeable future. Optimizing and right-sizing your infrastructure capacity has become an immediate concern and as the digital ecosystem broadens, your systems may need to expand. High capacity wireless can ensure your technology needs can keep pace with larger spaces and allow you to spread out. We also see an increased need for high-volume digital conferencing that doesn’t compromise connectivity and speed, even in dense demanding environments and challenging interference conditions.

  • Recently Caliber completed a HQ that included constructing capacity that gives a highly mobile staff the freedom to meet and work anywhere in the physical space and stay connected. The landline-free, 32,000 sq. ft. space is entirely mobile-enabled so that the staff has no boundaries while fully connected.
  • Large-scale LCD/LED video walls, such as the one Caliber installed in Speedo International’s Cypress-based corporate headquarters, provides for well-spaced meetings without compromising high definition quality and visibility.

THREE: Incorporate No-Touch Fixtures

Sensing technology features in lavatories and dining areas reduce hand-surface contact to lower transmission of germs and viruses. The measured dosing of product will also reduce waste. Entry doors with actuators (motors) will eliminate handle-touching while more technologically advanced buildings may deploy smart phones to stand in for a keycard or fob.

  • Caliber’s prior and upcoming projects call for door actuators at lavatories, suite entries and the primary entrance at multi-tenant office buildings.
  • In other efforts, dining centers incorporate touch-free dispensers that ease dosing of food & beverage products.

Download PDF: Constructing COVID Building Environment With Call Cor Case Study
 
 

Our next issue of INSIGHTS will address the remaining trends to the commercial built environment in response to COVID.
 
Keep in touch on Instagram in the meantime.