Not long ago, it seemed more like a futuristic vision for the workplace or hospital.
However, the hands-free door handles, self-cleaning surfaces, antibacterial coatings, air monitoring display tools, ultraviolet disinfection robots and other 135 measures of the Bucharest office building will continue to exist. The creators behind the products they touted as the world’s anti-virus capabilities One of the strongest workplaces, they hope this will become the new normal in office design.
Walking into H3, a five-story building located in the western block of the Romanian capital, is like learning the steps of a new dance. With a light wave of the wrist, the door opens, and a red line marks the standing position. A thermal imaging camera 2 meters away will scan the arrival for signs of fever. Those who are “green lighted” can reach the self-cleaning elevator along the track, step on one of the two foot pads and walk through the building, knowing that the ultraviolet lighting disinfection system installed in the ventilation shaft is safe and they are not between floors. Infect.
However, anyone with their head flashing red on the screen will be taken to a nearby isolation room by an “immune butler” wearing plastic gloves: a glass box with an emergency button and its own internal ventilation system, and the building The other parts of the wall are closed. The “Viruskiller” device on the wall has three levels of fan strength, which is expected to remove any pollutants, mold or spores that may infect the air, and is supported by a disinfection UV lamp on the wall.
This view of the future may cause some alarm. Using hospital technology as a model, once the pandemic is considered to be fully controlled, is this sterile environment the place where employees want to return?In Romania, just like everywhere else Europe, For most of the past 18 months, most office workers have been confined to their homes. The survey shows that many people are nervous about the prospect of return.
“The point is to reassure them. We don’t want people to panic,” said Gavin Bonner, one of the main coordinators behind the Immunity Building Standards project, which brings together health professionals, architects, engineers, IT and construction managers from all over the world , To help companies live after the epidemic.
The publicly available standard, under the trademark Immune, has been applied to several buildings in the UK. Its developers include Genesis, a leading Romanian real estate company and the landlord of H3. The project cost about 1 million euros (£850,560). Genesis CEO Liviu Tudor said that from the United States to Singapore, more than a dozen buildings are getting immunization certification. As the most protected space so far, the H3 building serves as a showroom, integrating all 135 recommended measures.
The project is open source and “aims to bring together the best ideas.” Tudor said that he has applied to the European Union, hoping that it can become the basis of the new EU standards, similar to traditional fire safety regulations. He said that it covers everything from technological innovation and scientific knowledge to workplace psychology, and he hopes it will inspire employers and employees. Millions of people are now engaged in intense conversations on related issues. Is it safe to return to the office – If so, how.
The project is actually an attempt by the Tudor dynasty to help revitalize the commercial real estate industry, but investors shunned it during the worst of the pandemic. He is keenly aware that if the company decides that it no longer needs or cannot afford office space, his business will be at risk.
The Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson is the current occupant of H3, a space of 15,500 square meters that has been refurbished in the past year at a cost of 375,000 euros, shared by the company and the landlord. Normally, there will be 2,000 employees in the office. Only a small part now occupies a desk or meeting room with plenty of space, and they book through digital booking tools to avoid overcrowding. After summer, it is expected that the first 20% of the labor force will return.
“We need to win people’s trust and reassure them that we have done everything we can to protect the health of the building to protect their health, and we want to provide them with as much information as possible,” said the company’s representative in Romania, who wants Remain anonymous.
Since communication is considered key, employees are encouraged to use large screens in the entrance hall, called digital dual displays, to “hold the pulse of the building,” as Genesis’ IT manager Dragoș Cozma said. He showed a detailed 3D map of the entire building, with touch points showing a series of measures to “enhance immunity”.
Staff are invited to check everything, from how many bottles of rubbing alcohol are left in the store cabinets, to how much radon, volatile organic compounds (VCO), carbon dioxide or moisture are in the building. They can compare the water levels on different floors and the previous few days, or watch a video explaining the science behind the reverse osmosis water purifier in the cellar, the technology behind the Viruskiller machine, or the sensors installed to prevent Legionnaires’ disease, all during the lock-in period pipeline.
“As IT experts, employees appreciate this gadget-like approach,” the company representative said.
In other places, simpler measures include doors with attachments that can be opened with elbows or forearms. Fittings and floors should be designed with rounded corners as much as possible, because the fewer corners, the less chance of bacteria gathering.
The toilet cubicle is from floor to ceiling, Because people are considered the safest, because people are enclosed in their own air-conditioned compartments, because there is no recommended 2m distance from the next toilet. At night, a 1.2-meter-high robot walks through the building, using ultraviolet rays to disinfect and destroy pathogens. During the day, hydrogen peroxide ions are emitted from key points in the ventilation system: transparent panels are installed on the ceiling so that the mechanical devices can be seen. “Visibility is everything,” Bonner said.
In the final analysis, is this not just a so-called “hygiene theater”? Considering that the spread of the coronavirus depends to some extent on human behavior, there is a question as to whether it is worth investing millions of euros to renovate buildings. The scientific consensus is that the new coronavirus is spread through droplets and aerosol particles in the air, and rarely through surfaces. Generally speaking, the recommendation is to avoid indoor spaces.
Tudor said that employees will still be encouraged to adopt a low-tech “cross-ventilation” method: frankly, open windows regularly.
But in his office in Cotroceni, before he entered real estate and accumulated 150,000 square meters of office space in Romania, he was an aircraft engineer. He painstakingly restored the former royal residence in Tudor Bucharest, which he thought was far It’s more than drama. He took his concept of “healthy building” as the next logical step in adapting the building to the dangerous history.
“First, the roof and walls,” he said. “Later there were earthquake and fire regulations, as well as recent measures taken to tackle pollution and make buildings more sustainable. Now, in the era of pandemics, it is time for them to adapt to this situation and other threats that are far from weird. , Whether it’s bacteriology or toxicology. It’s not enough to just move the table farther.”
