5 Designs for the Post-Coronavirus Office That the Most Cash-Strapped Companies Can Adopt

Originally published on May 19, 2020 online by Business Insider.

Excerpt from the article:

Using its own office as an inspiration, a Massachusetts-based architecture firm generated renderings to display how companies can quickly and effectively readjust their work space to enforce CDC social distancing guidelines.

Bergmeyer, which has locations in Boston and Los Angeles, will begin letting some employees back into its Boston office starting Monday, May 18.

The company has created a reentry plan that includes things like in-office physical distancing guidelines, daily cleaning procedures, and visitor policies.

Using five renderings, Bergmeyer made minimal-effort and cost-friendly changes to its office space These include adding floor markers, one-way traffic arrows in hallways, and removable dividers for each desk, while removing furniture so as to limit room occupancy.

"Using our own office as a test case, we set out to create an office reentry plan that turns the theoretical into actionable for ourselves and other businesses to move forward with wellbeing at the forefront," Bergmeyer explained.

The office spaces that have been rendered are the reception, conference room, work area, a team meeting room, and the kitchen.

The first phase will last from May 18 to June 5. During this time, Bergmeyer will have 25 employees coming back to the office in staggered shifts, and 13 will be allowed in each day.

The second phase will last from June 8 to June 26. During this phase, the company will have 50 employees back at the office in staggered shifts, 25 will be allowed in each day.

Then, in the third phase, which will run from June 29 to July 17, Bergmeyer will have all 80 employees back in the Boston office operating in scattered shifts, with up to 40 allowed in each day.

In addition, when it comes to visitors, they will refrain from having vendor informational presentations or lunch-and-learns in the office until July 3.

The main entry area in the Bergmeyer office has been reimagined to include a welcome sign that lays out the physical-distancing guidelines for the office. Signs like the one in the main area are scattered throughout the office to encourage employees to follow social distancing guidelines.

In addition, there are floor markers throughout the office that Bergmeyer refers to as "physical-distancing circles." The floor marker in the main entry area indicates where people should stand when they are engaging with the receptionist or waiting for someone to drop something off.

"It's really interesting how quickly people want to resort back to their social norms and typical behavior in a space," Bergmeyer's VP Rachel Zsembery told Business Insider. It can be hard stick by the six-feet-apart rule, so the floor marker is there to serve as a visual reminder, especially in places where there will likely be more than one person congregating.

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