The coronavirus has upended almost everything, including people’s trust in spaces and places where they work. For most architects and engineers who develop and design office buildings, this post-pandemic era introduces a new challenge to convince the workers that their office spaces are safe like torrents.

What is clear is that the workspaces should need to look different when they come back to physical offices. Professional property managers and commercial real estate investors should consider what their tenants and occupants will expect and want when they return.

Here are some of the lists to improve your building spaces during the post-pandemic.

Install Hand Sanitizer Stations

We’ve all walked into retail centers, malls, or grocery centers and had the realization that we have touched some surface that many people might have handled and only to realize that there are no hand sanitizers available in the area. While most of us carry our hand sanitizers in mini bottles nowadays, building owners should consider installing hand sanitizer stations in the building spaces and employ some workers to maintain the sanitizer dispenser.

Incorporate Touchless Technology

Sensor motion-activated doors have been standard in most Class A office building spaces for many years now. Building owners of those Class B and Class C buildings should consider and incorporate this type of technology or, at minimum or install step-and-pull doors with security access doors and panels for their controls.

Commercial offices should include innovative technologies, such as an automatic scanner that detects every person’s temperature and alerts the building authorities when a sick person enters the building. Innovative voice-activated technology can also help the building spaces be more secure and safe. With the increased demand for these touchless technology building materials, fitting slidings, property managers should install this before the return of their tenants.

Redesign Office Layout

While some office tenants will have to cut down their physical workforce and their square footage demands, others will require more office spaces than they had before the pandemic. Gone will be the days of open concept, creative office spaces. Some of the occupants will be returning to a more physical office or cubicle or at minimum. One of the best short-term solutions in creative office spaces might be plexiglass. However, this enthusiasm will be short-lived as office employees demand a more secure and safe workplace.

Improve the Conference Room

A conference room is one of the office building amenities that the property owner can improve during this post-pandemic. The existing conference spaces more likely need a way for virtual participants and in-person to meet together seamlessly. One of the concerns for workers who choose to stay working from home is the two-tiered working system. Upgraded video conference room spaces allow both workforce segments to work together smoothly, which levels the playing field.

Easy to Disinfect and Clean Materials

Architects can look for building materials and surfaces that are easier to wipe out and clean with disinfectants when redesigning the office space. A carpet flooring surface is not ideal during the Covid-19 pandemic as it cannot be easily cleaned or wiped out. Besides, carpet flooring in the office space is somewhat already on its way out of fashion. Building materials that are easy to clean and durable will somehow be the key of differentiators in the coming months and years.

Improve Air Quality

When outdoor space is not available, improving the air filtration in the office spaces is normal. Installing advanced HVAC filtering systems can help to improve air filtration quality in the building, same as for Class A commercial buildings. Property managers can start investigating its cost to incorporate specialized HVAC filters like MERV-16 in their HVAC system to prevent the spread of harmful viruses or molecules.

Install Information Display

Installing an information display in the building lobbies in any other interface points, such as elevators, is a perfect way to provide valuable information to the building tenants, such as the current reading of indoor air quality, safety measure protocols, and safety-relevant information.

Set-up Outdoor Spaces

Some workers or companies want to have office spaces that have outdoor access to meeting areas and working spaces. While the Covid-19 affects the creative office spaces, keeping the indoor-outdoor working spaces is one of the best options. Besides, office buildings that have outside seating are a premium in the leasing market.

Implement Building Cleaning Protocols

With all the circulating instructions from the government about handwashing, sanitizers, and cleaning hard surfaces with disinfectants, workers will likely want to know the standard cleaning protocols the property owner or manager are implementing to their employees to keep the office spaces safe. Even before the pandemic, one of the concerns by the dynamic workers was the hygiene and cleanliness in shared workstations. One of the best options for the building owners is to employ cleaners and strictly follow the standard cleaning protocols.

While some companies might stay virtual for now, others want to return to their office building with a hybrid or modified model or office workspaces. Property owners should now assess their building spaces, develop plans for necessary improvements to adapt the standard health and safety protocols.