The Design Paradox of the Decade

• Corona as a spatial and social relation

In these uncertain times, a great deal of pressure is put on virtually every sector in society. From the health care to hotels and supermarkets, few signs of relief are in sight. For the construction industry, this has a particular effect which affects all actors working within it.

Naturally, the first people that come to mind are the workers and builders on site who have been kept in the dark whether they are deemed “essential” workers or not. On the one hand, they are not essential in the same way as nurses and bus drivers, but on the other hand the construction industry with its deadlines and cash-flow is fundamental to the economy. Add to that the fact that site workers can’t exactly “work from home”.

However, what has sparked my interest more optimistically and creatively is the design challenge for the future which lies within this current Corona-crisis.

“If the burden of healthcare-associated infectionis to be reduced, it is imperative that architects,designers and builders be partners withhealthcare staff and infection control teamswhen planning new facilities or renovating olderbuildings.”

from NHS design briefing document “Infection control in the built environment” (2002) https://www.md.ucl.ac.be/didac/hosp/architec/UK.Built.pdf

The same document lists design and structure issues to consider:

•Is the facility designed to support infection control practice?

•Design, number and type of isolation rooms (i.e.airborne infection isolation or protectiveenvironments).

•Heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems including recommended ventilation and filtration charts

.•Mechanical/engineering/chemical systems involving water supply and plumbing.

•Number, type and placement of hand-hygiene fixtures, clinical sinks and taps, dispensers for hand-washing soap plus alcohol hand-rub, paper towels,and lotion.

•Space for waste, including sharps disposal units.•Accommodation for personal protection equipment.

•Surfaces: ceiling tiles, walls, counters, floor coveringand furnishings.•Utility rooms: soiled, clean, holding, workrooms.

•Storage of movable and modular equipment.

•Management of waste, including clinical and biological waste.•Linen (clean)/laundry (used)

Following this line of thought, Jennifer Silvis wrote in 2016 in Healthcare Design Magazine about the importance of flow through spaces to prevent infections, in particular removing the risk of waiting patients catching diseases from other patients. As such, the waiting room is a critical volume in need of an rethink post-Covid.

Tran Khai (on Researchgate) has an innovative approach to limit the spread of infections within a building. The design is focusing on how adaptive architecture has the potential to have an efficient impact on the ventilation, heating and air-conditioning of particularly hospitals, which is crucial in these times.

In Building Design + Construction, Andrew Brumbach emphasises the importance of the interior design of healthcare facilities and in particular the ease of which to keep them sterile and clean.

However, there is something untapped here. The buildings we design and have been taught to design from university and onwards have always tried hard to create contact between people, overlaps of programme and departments and to increase density. If this shifts, we as architects have to fundamentally rethink how to design spaces and buildings. Clients will have to stop wanting smaller and smaller bedrooms for a higher profit. This crisis has emphasised that infections, as spread between people, happen in environments and spaces. The more social the space, the higher likelihood of spreading the disease. Crowds are the enemy. Cities are the enemy. Festivals, concerts, cinemas, museums - the pride of societies, have become spatial battlegrounds. How can the architect of the future design spaces which both encourage meetings between people yet keep them at a safe distance? The design paradox of the decade.

Further reading:

https://www.healthcaredesignmagazine.com/trends/architecture/how-design-can-improve-infection-prevention-and-control/

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311879453_Adaptive_Architecture_and_the_Prevention_of_Infections_in_Hospitals

https://www.bdcnetwork.com/blog/working-reduce-hais-how-design-can-support-infection-control-and-prevention