In Focus Commercial Credit


Is the open-plan office dead?


As professionals begin to return to the office, layouts will continue to need to be built upon the best medical guidance


Alan Hedge Professor emeritus, Cornell University


Completely redesigning a building interior to accommodate social distancing is a short- term knee-jerk reaction to the current viral pandemic. Redesigning a commercial office space to


enforce a 2m social distance requires lowering the occupancy to less than 20% of workers. Doing this will be economically disastrous. Apart from redesigning the office layout to


accommodate social distancing, this may be impossible in other parts of the building, such as car doors, stairways, and lifts. Even if a company redesigns the space in


this way, to date there is no evidence that uninfected employees will have no risk of viral infection in a building designed for social distancing, if an infected person comes into that space. If a building is designed with individual


private offices that each have operable windows the risk of any viral infection will be dramatically reduced, especially if each of these offices also has some sterilisation technology, such as upper room germicidal ultraviolet lighting. l If none of the employees in a building is infected with the virus, social distancing is unnecessary. l If the air in the building is continuously being sterilised in some way, then social distancing is unnecessary. l If employees have been vaccinated against the virus, once a vaccine becomes available, social distancing is unnecessary.


Can physical barriers negate the requirement to have social distancing? If a physical barrier exists from floor-to- ceiling between an infected person and an uninfected person then, providing the ventilation system is not exchanging air


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between these two spaces without sterilising this air, there is no risk of infection being transmitted. However, if there are air gaps around the


barrier then it is possible for pathogens to be carried from an infected person to an uninfected person. Placing a partial barrier which is


approximately 1 m high in front of an individual will act as a cough or sneeze guard and catching the larger droplets can contain the virus. But exhaled air is at 33C so the air


naturally rises on a convective current which carries micro-droplets containing pathogens up and over the enclosure and into the breathing zone of any individual walking past that barrier and also into the general airstream of the office. A similar effect happens if you place a rear barrier and two side barriers in front of an employee. The situation is quite different if you place


a ceiling cover on the three barriers so that this creates more of an enclosure that stops contaminants escaping above the barriers. If you extend these barriers beyond the


front edge of the desk to about the elbow distance of the individual, this creates a very effective “hood” over the person. If you place a small air cleaner within


the enclosure then that will minimise any exposure risk to the individual or to any adjacent employees and it will ensure that any air released into the general office space is free from airborne pathogens.


How does sit-stand working impact on workstation layout post COVID-19? As it creates a more 3-dimensional aspect to the equation, someone sitting, opposite someone standing, means that any barrier


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However, if there are air gaps around the barrier then it is possible for pathogens to be carried from an infected person to an uninfected person


must be much higher. It is possible to place a partial enclosure, and preferably one with a ‘ceiling’ cover, onto a sit-stand desk so that whether the person is sitting or standing they are still being protected by that enclosure. If the enclosure has a ceiling to it and


the person is sitting down, then that ceiling also will protect if somebody walking past coughs or sneezes.


What will the cleaning protocols look like? Cleaning protocols are important in protecting against fomite transmission of the virus, meaning the surface to hands-to- face transmission. It is important to keep objects that are


frequently touched as clean as possible. Studies show that dilute bleach wipes are


very effective in deactivating the virus. UV-C lights are also very effective at deactivating the virus. UV-C devices allow you to place small items like your cell phone or tablet and within 15 to 30 minutes the device will be sterilised. Any surface material that contains copper,


such as a brass handle, will work to deactivate the virus and is preferable to using materials such as stainless steel or plastic.


September 2020


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