ARCHITECTURE & CONSTRUCTION
cott Hooker , president of Buehler Engineering , describes the past year at his Sacramento-based structural engineering firm as feeling “ like we ’ re defying gravity .” Despite a haunting expectation that business would plummet , Hooker and other members of the Capital Region ’ s construction industry say they managed to do better than just stay afloat as COVID-19 shut down much of the economy across California and the country .
The pandemic caused architects , contractors , engineers and others in construction to drastically alter the way they do business almost overnight . Collaborative meetings were being conducted on Zoom , inspections were performed over FaceTime , tools on job sites had to be sanitized and couldn ’ t be shared , and face masks joined steel-toed boots as protective gear .
Still , work continued on many large-scale commercial projects in the Sacramento area . “ For me , the thing that stands out about the last year is how resilient the industry has been ,” says Wendy Cohen , president of Kitchell CEM , which is based in Sacramento . “ I was just so impressed at the industry as a whole : how quickly we adapted , how quickly we innovated and came up with different ideas to keep our employees safe and really focus on the health aspect — but at the same time , keep our projects moving and the economy moving .”
Rethinking office space
The experience government and private sector employers have had with their employees working remotely is also
“ I was just so impressed at the industry as a whole : how quickly we adapted , how quickly we innovated and came up with different ideas to keep our employees safe and really focus on the health aspect — but at the same time , keep our projects moving and the economy moving .”
WENDY COHEN President , Kitchell CM
leading to a rethinking of what office space will be like post-pandemic . That is leading to a significant impact on design , Cohen says .
“ Every single client we have that is building any kind of office space is absolutely reconsidering what office space looks like ,” Cohen says . “ We ’ re working on a number of projects that include office space that were in design during COVID , and many of them either paused to reevaluate and change direction or have a more inspired direction because of COVID .”
Architects are also building lessons they learned from their own offices during the pandemic into their designs for clients , including how efficiently employees can collaborate over virtual platforms , what layouts allow for social distancing and how to ensure cleanliness .
“ There is a lot of discussion of what is ‘ the office ’ now ,” says Naaz Alikhan , principal of the Interior Environments Group at Williams + Paddon in Roseville . “ Maybe it will change in its size and its footprint , and maybe it will focus on meetings more so than actually having people sit there and work .”
She expects fewer large conference rooms and more spaces where workers can meet to collaborate . More obvious COVID-driven additions such as arrows in the carpet showing safe traffic patterns will disappear as the pandemic fades , she says , but others will be integrated into the environment in more subtle ways .
Touchless features are now a prerequisite , personal space will be expanded , and features that allow remote workers an equal chance to contribute to meetings will be incorporated into new and existing spaces , says Mike Parrott , president of architectural firm Nacht & Lewis in Sacramento .
“ We ’ re always looking at the user experiences and what architectural response there can be to that ,” says Parrott . “ The ideas of wellness and experience are much more prevalent than they were in the past , and that ’ s becoming integrated with things like sustainability .”
Parrott notes , however , that energy efficiency and sustainability goals can be in conflict , something that provides architects with a challenge . “ You try to push more air through a building , you ’ re going to raise your energy costs ,” Parrott says . “ So we ’ re in this world where we ’ re trying to meet some sustainability goals and energy efficiency goals , and at the same time trying to focus on providing more ventilation for people ’ s wellness and health .”
Rick Taipale , director of business development for DMG North , a Northern California-based provider
56 comstocksmag . com | June 2021